“The Hebrew Bible from a Jewish Scholarly Perspective”
Fall 2023 Lecture Series
Webinar Link: https://uky.zoom.us/j/89236328940
“The Hebrew Bible from a Jewish Scholarly Perspective”
Fall 2023 Lecture Series
Webinar Link: https://uky.zoom.us/j/85907784100
Today’s Israelite Samaritans are ‘living history’, as we respect and observe our way of life and heritage. Through our sometimes difficult past, we have learned to coexist harmoniously with our neighbours, and we are a bridge for peace (gesher leshalom) between all peoples . We are the root of the Abrahamic religions in the region, including Samaritanism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Druze and Bahai faiths. Though rooted deeply in the past, we are a vibrant modern community with contemporary enterprises and interests. In March 1919 there were only 141 individuals, in Nablus and Jaffa. By September 2014, the Israelite Samaritan Community numbered 770 souls, divided into four households, all in the Holy Land. This talk will explore the past, present, and future of the Israelite Samaritan people.
Benny recently published "The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah: First English Translation Compared with the Masoretic Version" with Eerdmans Publishing.
In addition to the medieval harp and percussion, Vanessa Paloma brings the intimacy of private singing and synagogue prayers to international concert venues.
The Jewish community from Morocco has benefited from the history of migrations across the strait of Gibraltar that has brought a cultural, musical and linguistic influx to both sides of the strait. The influences represented in their music and poetry span Africa, the Mediterranean and the Iberian peninsula and will be represented tonight in Vanessa Paloma's performance of Judeo-Spanish Romances, Judeo-Arabic piyyutim and Hebrew prayers. Accompanying herself with a medieval harp and percussion, Paloma brings the intimacy of private singing and synagogue prayers to international concert venues.
In addition to the medieval harp and percussion, Vanessa Paloma brings the intimacy of private singing and synagogue prayers to international concert venues.
Not only is the Middle East the birthplace of three of the world’s great religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but it is also home to other less well-known religions. Dr. Mina Yazdani will discuss Iran and its ties to the lesser known religions, Zoroastrianism, and the Baha’i Faith, and the mystical interpretation of Islam, Sufism.
Dr. Yazdani is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Eastern Kentucky University. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto. Her thesis was entitled, Religious Contentions in Modern Iran, 1881-1941.” Her current research interests focus on Modern Iran and the Islamic World. She has published widely in both English and Persian.
“Specters of War” examines the influence of post-9/11 American military interventions in the Middle East on the production of both American and Arab literature. Focusing on images of ghosts, spectral illusions, the undead and the undying, the talk attempts to locate zones of inter-textual contact where contemporary American and Arab literary voices move past mutual redactions and engage one another’s respective cultural realities. The goal is to both introduce Arab literary voices into the conversation about America’s presence in the Middle East and to interrogate the haunting presence of the Middle East in contemporary American literature. Works discussed will include Ali Bader’s The Tobacco Keeper, Hassan Blasim’s The Corpse Experiment and Other Stories of Iraq, Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s Guantanamo Diary, Theo Padnos’s “My Captivity,” Phil Klay’s Redployment, and Ross Ritchell’s The Knife.
