Jewish Heritage Lecture Series marks a 50th anniversary celebration

From the language of the Sephardim to the language of jazz, the UW–Madison Jewish Heritage Lecture series will reflect the Jewish experience from a variety of angles.

This year, the series will help launch the 50th anniversary of the UW–Madison department of Hebrew and Semitic studies. Two internationally recognized scholars – Michael Satlow of Brown University and Marc Saperstein of George Washington University – will lecture on Monday, March 6.

Satlow will talk about “Peoples of the Land: Jewish Piety in Late Antiquity.” The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Pyle Center. Saperstein will speak in the same venue at 8:30 p.m. His subject will be “Preaching to a Congregation of ‘New Jews:’ The Sermons of Spinoza’s Rabbi.”

“This 50th anniversary is a landmark occasion for the field of Hebrew and Semitic studies, of course, but also for UW–Madison,” says Steve Nadler, director of the Mosse-Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies. “We are pleased and honored to have these anniversary lectures as the starting point for our exciting semester-long series. We’re bringing together an extraordinary range of individuals and topics.”

All programs, to be held at the Pyle Center, are free and open to the public. Complete information on lectures can be found here. They include:

—”Reflections on Sephardi Ladino Culture in Modern Times,” Aron Rodrigue, Stanford University, Monday, March 20, 7:30 p.m.

—”Sephardic Jewries and the Holocaust,” Aron Rodrigue, Wednesday, March 22, 7:30 p.m.

—”The Impact of the Dead Sea Scrolls on Our Bible,” Eugene Ulrich, Notre Dame University, Sunday, April 2, 3 p.m.; and “The Dead Sea Scrolls and Early Judaism,” James C. VanderKam, Notre Dame, Sunday, April 2, following Ulrich’s talk.

—”Interpreting the Word: Hope, Hype and Habit in 50 Years of Biblical Studies,” Leonard J. Greenspoon, Creighton University, Monday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m.; and “Reclaiming History Letter-by-Letter: How Modern Technologies are Unlocking Ancient Texts from Biblical Times,” Bruce Zuckerman, University of California-Los Angeles, April 3, following the Greenspoon lecture.

—”Home and Away: Places and Spaces in Hebrew Literature,” Hannah Naveh, Tel Aviv University, Tuesday, April 4, 7:30 p.m.

—”From Shtetl to Swing: An evening of film and music with Ben Sidran,” Thursday, April 27, 8 p.m., Wisconsin Union Theater. UW alumnus and jazz virtuoso Sidran will augment musically and anecdotally a screening of the recent “From Shtetl to Swing” PBS documentary.

For more information, contact Anita Lightfoot at (608) 265-4763, allightf@wisc.edu.