2001-2002 Colloquium

Eighth Annual Gruss Colloquium in Judaic Studies

Jewish Biblical Interpreation
in Comparative Context

April 29 - May 1, 2002

(All academic sessions are free and open to the public.
Pre-registration or RSVP are not required)

MONDAY, April 29	Franklin Room 218, Houston Hall, University of Pennsylvania, 3417 Spruce St.
1:00 pm	GREETINGS David Ruderman Director, Center for Advanced Judaic Studies Rebecca Bushnell Associate Dean, School of Arts and Sciences
1:15 pm	FROM SCRIPTURE TO EXEGESIS: THE BEGINNINGS OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION
	Chair: Robert Kraft, University of Pennsylvania Dalit Rom-Shiloni, Hebrew University/CAJS Facing Destruction and Exile: Inner-Biblical Exegesis in Jeremiah and Ezekiel Naomi Koltun-Fromm, Haverford College/CAJS Between Holy Seed and Holy Deed: Biblical Notions of Holy Community Gary Anderson, Harvard University Culpability for and Forgiveness of Sin in the Dead Sea Scrolls
3:15 pm	Coffee
3:45 pm	EXEGESIS IN LATE ANTIQUITY: CONTESTATION AND CONVERSATION
	Chair: Steven Fraade, Yale University Tamar Kadari, Hebrew University/CAJS A Surprising Tannaitic Interpretation of the Song of Songs and its Rabbinic and Christian Interpretive Context David Goldenberg, University of Pennsylvania/CAJS At the Crossroads of History and Exegesis Marc Hirshman, Hebrew University Oral Tradition and Jewish-Christian Polemic
6:15 pm	Cocktails (by invitation)
6:45 pm	Dinner (by invitation) Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, 420 Walnut Street
8:00 pm	EVENING PROGRAM: FORMATTING THE BIBLE, MATERIALIZING INTERPRETATION Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, 420 Walnut Street (by invitation) Peter Stallybrass, University of Pennsylvania David Stern, University of Pennsylvania
TUESDAY, APRIL 30	Franklin Room 218, Houston Hall, University of Pennsylvania, 3417 Spruce St.
8:45 am	EXEGESIS IN RITUAL, EXEGESIS AS RITUAL
	Chair, David Dawson, Haverford College Daniel Sheerin, University of Notre Dame/CAJS The Ensemble of "Proper" Texts of the Medieval Mass as Scriptural Cento Adiel Kadari, Beit Morasha of Jerusalem/CAJS The Ritual of Public Scriptural Reading in Jewish Liturgy and its Social Significance Mahmoud Ayoub, Temple University Ritual Purity in Quranic Exegesis: A Study of the Controversies Surrounding Ablutions Before Prayers
10:45 am	Coffee
11:15 am	EXEGESIS, POLEMICS, AND SELF-DEFINITION
	Chair: Marc Saperstein, George Washington University Sara Japhet, Hebrew University/CAJS Exegesis and Polemics in Rashbam's Commentary on the Song of Songs Deeana Klepper, Boston University/CAJS Searching Scripture: Teaching the Literal Sense of Scripture through Anti-Jewish Polemics Martin Jacobs, Free University of Berlin/CAJS Biblical Allusions as Polemic in Yosef Sambari's Depiction of Early Islam
2:15 pm	READING PRACTICES, READING COMMUNITIES
	Chair: Ann Moyer, University of Pennsylvania Megan Williams, University of Michigan/CAJS Making the Difference between Midrash and Allegory: Jerome's Use of Rabbinic Exegesis Michael Signer, University of Notre Dame/CAJS Consolation and Confrontation: Reading the Prophetic Books in 12th Century Jewish and Christian Exegesis Fabrizio Lelli, University of Lecce, Italy Christians and Jews on Job in 15th Century Italy
4:15 pm	Coffee
4:30 pm	ENARRATIVE AND NOMOS: LAW AND THE PRACTICE OF EXEGEGIS
	Chair: Talya Fishman, University of Pennsylvania Natalie Dohrmann, North Carolina State University/CAJS Slave Law as Cultural Narrative: Manumission and Transformation in Jewish and Roman Law Joseph Lowry, New York University/CAJS The Qur'an as a Legal-Theoretical Problem: Shafi'i's Use of the Qur'an as a Source of Law and Hermeneutic Principles Daniel Frank, Ohio State University Problems in Early Karaite Halakhic Exegesis
6:45 pm	Dinner (by invitation) Logan Hall, Terrace Room, University of Pennsylvania, 249 S. 36th Street
8:00 pm	CONCERT PERFORMANCE (by invitation) WOMEN OF VALOR Andrea Clearfield, Composer Amado Hall, Irvine Auditorium University of Pennsylvania 3401 Spruce Street

WEDNESDAY, MAY 1	Logan Hall, Room 17, University of Pennsylvania, 249 S. 36th Street
9:00 am	MEDIEVAL COMMENTATORS AND THE MIDRASHIC TRADITION
	Chair: Elliot Wolfson, New York University Mordechai Cohen, Yeshiva University/CAJS Image, Imagination and Interpretation: Moses Ibn Ezra vs. Maimonides on Biblical Metaphor Jacob Elbaum, Hebrew University/CAJS Is There Something New in Bible Exegesis in Post-Classical Midrashic Literature? Tzvi Langermann, Bar-Ilan University/CAJS The Song of Songs Commentary of Zekharya ha-Rofe (Yemen, 14th Century) Haggai Ben-Shammai, Hebrew University/CAJS The Rabbinic Literature in Samuel Ben Hofni's Exegesis: Between Tradition and Innovation
11:00 am	Coffee
11:30 am	CONCLUDING PLENARY SESSION
	Chair: David Ruderman, University of Pennsylvania/CAJS Reuven Firestone, Hebrew Union College/Los Angeles Geoffrey Hartman, Yale University Ann Matter, University of Pennsylvania David Stern, University of Pennsylvania
1:15 pm	Concluding Luncheon (by invitation) followed by Board of Overseers meeting Logan Hall, Terrace Room University of Pennsylvania, 249 S. 36th Street

For further information, contact the

Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
University of Pennsylvania

Tel. 215-238-1290, Fax. 215-238-1540
allenshe@sas.upenn.edu