Symposium ‘Understanding Judaism: New Approaches to Rabbinic Literature’ (20&21 March 2023)

The board of the Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum foundation is thrilled to extend its invitation to you to join the two-day symposium ‘Understanding Judaism: New Approaches to Rabbinic Literature’, featuring honored Yale Professor Christine Hayes and other notable speakers such as Professors Peter Tomson, Martin Goodman, Lutz Doering, and Annette Merz. 

The symposium addresses the ways recent developments in the study of Rabbinic literature affect long-standing modes of approaching culture, religion, and society in Late Antiquity. The seminar will take place at Utrecht University (Utrecht, the Netherlands) on March 20th and 21st, 2023, and celebrates the publication of Christine Hayes’ groundbreaking volume of The Literature of the Sages: A Re-Visioning (CRINT 16; Leiden: Brill, 2022). The symposium will include a masterclass featuring up-and-coming students and their work.

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Symposium Programme

Day 1

09:30 Entrance

10:00 Eric Ottenheijm, Opening

10:10 Introduction by Peter J. Tomson 

10:45 Coffee/Tea Break

11:00 Christine Hayes, Introductory Lecture

11:45 Questions from the audience

12:15 Lunch

13.30 Responses by three external specialists: Lutz Doering; Martin Goodman; Annette Merz.

15.00 Tea Break 

15.30 Response of Prof. Hayes

Followed by a general discussion on the volume’s merits and final words by Eric Ottenheijm

16.00 Reception

18:00 Dinner (invited guests only)

Day 2

09:30 Entrance

10:00 Eric Ottenheijm, Opening

10:15 Masterclass (part I)

11:30 Coffee/Tea break

11:45 Masterclass (part II)

13:00 Lunch 

To register for the symposium or see more info, click here.