Daniel Boyarin to speak on the ‘homme-eroticism of Torah study’
April 26 address will be part of HBI conference on gender and Jewish thought
Daniel Boyarin
WALTHAM, Mass.– Philosopher and historian Daniel Boyarin will visit Brandeis University on April 26 to deliver the keynote lecture for a conference on gender and Jewish thought. Boyarin, a transformative figure in the field of Jewish studies, will speak on “A Love Surpassing Women: The Homme-eroticism of Torah Study.”
This program, sponsored by the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute (HBI) and Bar Ilan University, marries feminist, gender and queer theory with the study of Jewish texts. Professor Boyarin will explain the significance of male-male friendship (havruta) in the contexts of male-female relationships in ancient Israel and Greece. Boyarin will argue that the tension surrounding male-male relationships had profound effects in structuring gender relations in classical rabbinic Judaism.
“Boyarin is a brilliant and seminal figure in contemporary Jewish thought,” says Sylvia Barack Fishman, co-director of the HBI and chair of the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department at Brandeis University. “His analysis of Talmud logic stresses the moral underpinnings and gender sensitivity—perhaps surprising to some readers—of traditional rabbinic logic, as expressed in the Talmud.”
Boyarin, a professor of Talmudic Culture at the University of California, Berkeley, works at the unique intersection of philosophy and religion. He is the award winning author of “Border Lines: The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity,” in which he argues for a different way of thinking about the historical development that is the partition of Judaeo-Christianity, and the book “Carnal Israel: Reading Sex in Talmudic Culture.”
The lecture will take place on Sunday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Brandeis University, Rapaporte Treasure Hall, Goldfarb Library, Waltham, Mass. Seating is limited and RSVPs are strongly encouraged: please email hbi@brandeis.edu with names and number of guests. For more information, visit the HBI Web site.
About the HBI (Hadassah-Brandeis Institute)
The (HBI) Hadassah-Brandeis Institute develops fresh ways of thinking about Jews and gender worldwide by producing and promoting scholarly research and artistic projects.
