Seminars

The Study of the Hebrew Bible

  • Founded
    1968
  • Seminar Number
    473

The seminar is composed of scholars of different faiths and traditions with a common interest in research and teaching of the Hebrew Bible. The focus of the seminar is research illuminating the cultural milieu, language, text, and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. This research is characterized by a variety of methodologies, including historical-critical, literary, philological, archaeological, and sociological approaches to the text, as well as history of interpretation. Research on ancient near eastern cultures and languages relating to ancient Israel is also regularly presented.

Co-Chairs
Professor David Carr
dcarr@utsnyc.edu

Professor Liane Feldman
lmfeldman@nyu.edu

Rapporteur
David DeLauro
ddelauro@scholarsgateway.com

All seminars will continue to meet virtually through Fall 2021. Meeting links provided upon RSVP. Meeting dates and times are subject to change.

Meeting Schedule

09/23/2021 Online Meeting
7:00 PM
A Study in Religious Ethics: Ruth and Naomi in the Hebrew Bible and Beyond
Susan Niditch, Amherst College
Abstract

Abstract

This talk is drawn from a chapter of my new project on ethics in the Hebrew Bible and beyond. After a brief overview of the planned book, its origins and goals, I will focus on the story of Ruth, sharing a portion of a longer essay on religious ethics. We will look at relationships and interactions in the narrative, views of the deity, and weave in the concept of “moral luck” as a way of gaining insight into the writer’s worldview. Then we will take note of the potential ethical problems that post-biblical Jewish writers find in the biblical work, underscored by treatments of key passages in Ruth Rabbah, and examine the ways in which the Rabbis understand or resolve troubling issues.
10/19/2021 Online Meeting
7:00 PM

Mark Leuchter, Temple University




11/16/2021 Online Meeting
7:00 PM

David Carr, Union Theological Seminary




12/07/2021 Online Meeting
7:00 PM

Jacqueline Vayntrub, Yale Divinity School




01/25/2022 Location TBD
7:00 PM

Karina Hogan, Fordham University




02/08/2022 Location TBD
7:00 PM

Ken Stone, Chicago Theological Seminary




03/01/2022 Location TBD
7:00 PM

Bernd Schipper, Humboldt University of Berlin (Germany)




Location TBD
7:00 PM

Naphtali Meshel, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel)




Notes: April Date TBD
05/10/2022 Location TBD
7:00 PM

Julia Rhyder, Harvard University