Tauber Institute Events
Upcoming Events
September 9, 2025
For the first Jewish Studies Colloquium of the year, the Tauber Institute welcomes Trevor Wilson (UNC - Chapel Hill) presenting the paper "Alexandre Kojève's Sophia, or the Misfortunes of Wisdom". The event will be held on Tuesday, Sept 9 at 12:45 pm in Lown 315 and stream live on Zoom. The colloquium is free and open to the public, and a light kosher lunch will be served at 12:30 pm. Registration is required for Zoom.
September 10, 2025
Join the Tauber Institute for another installment of our Author Conversations, this time featuring Noa Shashar, author of The Marital Knot: Agunot in the Ashkenazi Realm, 1648-1850. The event will be held Wednesday, September 10at 12:00 pm in Lown 315, and is free and open to the public. A light kosher lunch will be served.
Shashar's The Marital Knot was published by Brandeis University Press in the Tauber Institute Series and the HBI Series in Gender, Culture, Religion and Law. The book sheds light on Jewish family life in the early modern era and on the activity of rabbis whose Jewish legal rulings determined the fate of agunot, literally “chained women,” who were often considered a marginal group.
Sponsored by the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry, Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, Brandeis Hillel, Brandeis Orthodox Organization, Masorti, and the Jewish Feminist Association of Brandeis, with support of the Professor Mark A. Ratner Fund.
September 15, 2025
Join us Monday, September 15 for "Interreligious Dialogue, Missteps, and Opportunities: the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and the Question of Antisemitism," a presentation by Benjamin E. Sax. The event will take place at 12:00 pm in the Mandel Center for the Humanities Forum and is free and open to the public. A light kosher lunch will be served.
Sax serves as the Head of Scholarship and the Jewish Scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies in Baltimore, which produces educational programming, public-facing scholarship, and relationship-centered fellowships and workshops advance to interreligious dialogue and understanding.
Sponsored by Brandeis Hillel, Masorti, and J Street U at Brandeis, the Center for Spiritual Life, the Seminar on Contemporary Jewish Life, the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education, the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program, the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, and the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry.
October 21, 2025
On Tuesday, October 21, the Tauber Institute welcomes Ehud Krinis (Ben Gurion University of the Negev) presenting the paper "Through the Sufi Curtain: Bahya ibn Paquda's Duties of the Heart and the Islamic Zuhd Tradition". The event will be held at 12:45 pm in Lown 315 and stream live on Zoom. The colloquium is free and open to the public, and a light kosher lunch will be served at 12:30 pm. Registration is required for Zoom.
November 18, 2025
On Tuesday, November 18, the Tauber Institute welcomes Tamar Aizenberg (Brandeis University) presenting the paper "Grandchildren of Survivors, Grandchildren of Perpetrators, and Holocaust Memory". The event will be held at 12:45 pm in Lown 315 and stream live on Zoom. The colloquium is free and open to the public, and a light kosher lunch will be served at 12:30 pm. Registration is required for Zoom.
December 9, 2025
On Tuesday, December 9, the Tauber Institute welcomes Jonathan Elukin (Trinity College) presenting the paper "Can a Jew Love? Christians, Emotions, and Jewish History". The event will be held at 12:45 pm in Lown 315 and stream live on Zoom. The colloquium is free and open to the public, and a light kosher lunch will be served at 12:30 pm. Registration is required for Zoom.
January 20, 2026
On Tuesday, January 20, the Tauber Institute welcomes Thomas Burman (University of Notre Dame). Paper title TBA. The event will be held at 12:45 pm in Lown 315 and stream live on Zoom. The colloquium is free and open to the public, and a light kosher lunch will be served at 12:30 pm. Registration is required for Zoom.
February 24, 2026
On Tuesday, February 24, the Tauber Institute welcomes Alex Szabo (Brandeis University). Paper title TBA. The event will be held at 12:45 pm in Lown 315 and stream live on Zoom. The colloquium is free and open to the public, and a light kosher lunch will be served at 12:30 pm. Registration is required for Zoom.
March 24, 2026
On Tuesday, March 24, the Tauber Institute welcomes Tamar Hess (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem). Paper title TBA. The event will be held at 12:45 pm in Lown 315 and stream live on Zoom. The colloquium is free and open to the public, and a light kosher lunch will be served at 12:30 pm. Registration is required for Zoom.
April 14, 2026
On Tuesday, April 14, the Tauber Institute welcomes Sari Siegel (Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University). Paper title TBA. The event will be held at 12:45 pm in Lown 315 and stream live on Zoom. The colloquium is free and open to the public, and a light kosher lunch will be served at 12:30 pm. Registration is required for Zoom.
Recent Events
May 14, 2025
Sandra Seltzer Silberman HBI Conversations Series
Cosponsored by The Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry at Brandeis University
The Marital Knot, Agunot in the Ashkenazi Realm, 1648-1850 tells the family stories of men and women who lived hundreds of years ago. Focusing on agunot, literally “chained women,” who were often considered a marginal group, it sheds light on Jewish family life in the early modern era and on the activity of poskim, rabbis who gave Jewish legal rulings related to agunot.
Dr. Noa Shashar earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Jewish History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an M.A. in Jewish and Gender Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary. Shashar is a lecturer at the Sapir Academic College and the author of several volumes including Not on Bread Alone: The Krell Murachovski Family Histories.
The Marital Knot is a Brandeis University Press publication in the Brandeis Series on Gender, Culture, Religion, and Law, created under the auspices of HBI in conjunction with its Project on Gender, Culture, Religion, and the Law, and The Tauber Institute Series for the Study of European Jewry.
The Marital Knot is available from the Brandeis University Press, Amazon, Bookshop, and your local bookseller.
April 22, 2025
Mohamad Ballan of Stony Brook University presented the paper "Andalusi Scholar-Officials in the Late Medieval Mediterranean World" at the Jewish Studies Colloquium on April 22, 2025, at 12:45 pm Eastern.
March 25, 2025
On March 25, 2025, Juliet Carey and Abigail Green presented "Jewish Country Houses: Memory and Heritage," the 61st Annual Simon Rawidowicz Memorial Lecture.
The Simon Rawidowicz Memorial Lecture is named for Simon Rawidowicz (1896–1957), one of the most innovative Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century and a founding member of the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University.
March 18, 2025
Noa Tsaushu of Columbia University presented the paper "Yiddish Art: The Formal and Social Functions of Marginality" at the Jewish Studies Colloquium on March 18, 2025 at 12:45 pm Eastern.
January 28, 2025
Naomi Seidman of the University of Toronto & Joshua Shanes of the College of Charleston presented the paper "Haredi/Ultra-Orthodox Writings: Definitions, History, and Canon" at the Jewish Studies Colloquium on January 28, 2025 at 12:30 pm Eastern.
January 22, 2025
This year's Tauber Institute's Author Conversations featured Amit Levy, author of A New Orient: From German Scholarship to Middle Eastern Studies in Israel, in conversation with Arie Dubnov (George Washington University), moderated by Eugene Sheppard, director of the Tauber Institute and professor of modern Jewish history and thought at Brandeis University, on January 22, 2025.
Amit Levy's A New Orient: From German Scholarship to Middle Eastern Studies in Israel examines the history of Zionist academic Orientalism in light of its German-Jewish background as a history of knowledge transfer stretching along an axis from Germany to Palestine. It is part of the Tauber Institute Series for the Study of European Jewry, published by Brandeis University Press.
December 11, 2024
The Tauber Institute screened the documentary Spinoza – 6 Reasons for the Excommunication of the Philosopher on Wednesday, December 11 at 12:00 pm in Lown 315. A discussion with Professor Eugene Sheppard followed the film.
A 17th century Jewish Portuguese philosopher born and raised in Amsterdam, Benedictus (also called Bento and Baruch) Spinoza was excommunicated by the city's Jewish authorities in 1656. Many scholars suspect that his later famous and infamous writings questioning of the nature of God and the divine origin of the Hebrew Bible rendered him a dangerous heretic. Centuries later, this act of excommunication is considered a formative event in the development of modern Jewish thought and philosophy more generally. David Ofek’s stylized and fascinating documentary excavates this history, tracing six reasons why Spinoza had been expelled and delves into various accounts of why his radically unconventional ideas were revolutionary in his time and continue to resonate today. Watch the trailer!
Sponsored by the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry, the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, and Brandeis Hillel.
Israel | Documentary | 2023 | 55 min | Director: David Ofek | Producer: Yair Qedar
December 10, 2024
Rebecca Wittmann of the University of Toronto presented the paper "Haunted and Hallowed Grounds: Confronting the German Past in the First Person" at the Jewish Studies Colloquium on December 10, 2024.
November 19, 2024
Uriah Kfir, senior lecturer at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the Department of Hebrew Literature, presented "Hidden Harmonies: Exploring the Music of Medieval Hebrew Rhymed Narratives". The event hold place on Tuesday, November 19 at 12:30 pm Eastern in Lown 315.
November 14, 2024
Jehuda Reinharz and Alexander Kaye had a conversation about Reinharz’s latest book, Chaim Weizmann: A Biography, at the Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University, the nation's oldest continuously operating free public lecture series. This event was part of the First Annual Book Festival, a collaboration between Brandeis University Press, Suffolk University, and the Ford Hall Forum. This new series of author events features recently published books from Brandeis University Press and brings prominent authors to Boston to discuss topics of current and enduring interest. The festival is co-sponsored by GBH Forum Network.
The event took place on Thursday, November 14, 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm Eastern at 120 Tremont Street, 5th Floor Commons, Boston MA. A recording of the event is forthcoming.
November 12, 2024
Yaniv Feller of the University of Florida presented the paper "Confession Booths, Human Zoos, and Adolf Eichmann: Presenting Jews in Berlin" at the Jewish Studies Colloquium on November 12, 2024.
October 15, 2024
Andrew Berns of the University of South Carolina presented the paper "Physicians, The Diffusion of Medical Knowledge, and Jewish Culture in Early Modern Europe" at the Jewish Studies Colloquium on Tuesday, October 15, 2024.
September 17, 2024
Till van Rahden of the Université de Montréal presented the paper "Nationalism and Its Discontents: Jewish Visions of Pluralism in Central Europe, 1850s-1930s" at the Jewish Studies Colloquium on September 17, 2024.
April 16, 2024
The Tauber Institute hosted Hasia Diner of New York University at the Jewish Studies Colloquium. She presented her paper "Writing American Jewish History: An Irish Project" on Tuesday, April 16.
April 4, 2024
Susannah Heschel, the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College, delievered the 60th Annual Simon Rawidowicz Memorial Lecture on Thursday, April 4, 2024 at Brandeis University asking, "Does Jewish Studies Have a Theory? Changing Historiographical Methods and Contexts from the 19th Century to the Present."
The Simon Rawidowicz Memorial Lecture is named for Simon Rawidowicz (1896–1957), one of the most innovative Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century and a founding member of the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University. Recordings of Rawidowicz lectures from 2018 to 2023 can be viewed on our Lectures page.
March 28, 2024
At The Vilna Shul in Boston, a discussion featuring translators/editors Frances Malino and Yaëlle Azagury moderated by Jonathan Decter took place Thursday, March 28 at 6:30pm.
Mazaltob is a first-ever English translation of a compelling work by a forerunner of modern Sephardi feminist literature.
Mazaltob, by Blanche Bendahan, is a fascinating portrait of a young Moroccan Sephardi woman as she navigates the ever-shifting ground between tradition and modernity, East and West, self and other, obligation and desire. Stylistically bold, culturally rich, by turns comic and wrenching, this polyphonic novel is both historically important and, in its new translation, a gift for our times.
March 12, 2024
The Tauber Institute hosted Eugene Sheppard—the associate director of the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry and faculty member in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and the History of Ideas Program at Brandeis University—at the Jewish Studies Colloquium. He presented his paper "Valeriu Marcu: Dialectics, Power, and the Writing of History" at 12:45pm on March 12, 2024.
February 27, 2024
The Tauber Institute hosted Kirsten Collins of the University of Chicago Divinity School to the Jewish Studies Colloquium. She presented her paper "That Other Fornication: Race and Judaism in Foucault's Concept of Critique" on February 27, 2024.
February 13, 2024
The Tauber Institute held another installment of our Author Conversations on Tuesday, February 13 featuring Scott Ury (Tel Aviv University) and Guy Miron (Open University of Israel) in conversation on Zoom with the associate director of the Tauber Institute, Eugene Sheppard.
Ury and Miron are the editors of the new volume Antisemitism and the Politics of History, a groundbreaking study comprised of seventeen essays by prominent scholars from Europe, Israel, and the United States that examines the history of and dilemmas associated with using "antisemitism" and related terms as tools for both historical analysis and public discourse. Antisemitism and the Politics of History is a Sarnat Library book in the Tauber Institute Series for the Study of European Jewry, published by Brandeis University Press.
January 23, 2024
The Tauber Institute hosted Jonathan Crane of Emory University, Emily Filler of Washington and Lee University, and Mira Wasserman of Reconstructionist Rabbinical College at the Jewish Studies Colloquium. They presented their paper "Introducing Modern Jewish Ethics, 1970-Present" on January 23, 2024.
Brandeis in 1948: The Quests for Rights and Social Justice
