Events

Book Talk by Pamela Barmash on her new book (JPS 2024) An original anthology of modern responsa (Jewish ethical and ritual decision-making) by rabbinic authorities, men and women, across movements (Conservative, Orthodox, Reform), geographic locales, and ethnicities (Ashkenazic, Sefardic, Mizraḥi), Modern Responsa engages readers in understanding how rabbis expert in Jewish law apply principles, precedents,… Continue Reading “Modern Responsa: An Anthology of Jewish Ethical and Ritual Decisions” with Pamela Barmash, moderated by Adriaan Lanni

Yael Berda, Associate Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, Hebrew University Moderated by Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Emeritus, Harvard Law School Colonial Bureaucracy and Contemporary Citizenship examines how the legacies of colonial bureaucracy continue to shape political life after empire. Focusing on the former British colonies of India, Cyprus, and Israel/Palestine, the book explores how post-colonial… Continue Reading “Colonial Bureaucracy and Contemporary Citizenship” with Yael Berda moderated by Mark Tushnet

Jay Michaelson, Caroline Zelaznik Gruss and Joseph S. Gruss Visiting Professor in Talmudic Civil Law, Harvard Law School Moderated by Noah Feldman, Director Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law

How does a case of property ownership become a case of minority identity? What are the unique legal aspects of property cases in Jerusalem? What can we learn from the the current legal battles to protect property in Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter? The Legal Status of property possession and ownership in Jerusalem derives from the unique… Continue Reading Property Rights and National Identities in Jerusalem – The Case of the Armenian Quarter with Dr. Sami Ershied

What do universities owe Jews under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964? The answer depends on why Title VI protects Jews – that is, its legal basis for doing so. Title VI prohibits universities from tolerating discrimination “on the ground of race, color, and national origin.” Notably, Title VI --unlike Title VII—does… Continue Reading “What Do Universities Owe Jews under Title VI, and Why?” with Robert Katz, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law

  This lecture will explore the notion of venturing to the law beyond the law particularly as it is implied by mystical nihilism. My argument pivots around the assumption that the skepticism of faith, endemic to nihilistic encounter with the nothing on the part of mystics, resonates with the insubordinate proclivity of the Jewish esoteric… Continue Reading “Mystical Nihilism, Theopolitics, Ethics, and the Law Beyond Law” with Elliot Wolfson, UC Santa Barbara, Emeritus

Dr. Shereshevsky will discuss recent cases in the Israeli Supreme Court in the context of the war in Gaza and how the Court’s approach can be explained through broader discussions of the application of international law in domestic courts. Specifically, he will examine these cases against the backdrop of the various international proceedings related to… Continue Reading “The Israeli Supreme Court and the War on Gaza” (via zoom) with Yahli Shereshevsky, Haifa University

Professor Miguel Vatter is Professor of Politics, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University; and currently a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

  How a nineteenth-century lawsuit over the estate of a wealthy Tunisian Jew shines new light on the history of belonging.

In this talk Magid briefly explores the subject of violence and war through the work of three rabbinic thinkers in the twentieth century: Aaron Shmuel Tamares, Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar,… Continue Reading The Difference Between Freedom and Liberation: War, Violence and the State in Tamares, Teitelbaum & Kook with Shaul Magid, Harvard University