In Cooperation with:
Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania;
Center for Research on the History and Culture of Polish Jews at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem;
Samuel Braun Chair for the History of the Jews in Prussia at Bar Ilan University

Program

Sunday, July 2

9:00 a.m. INTRODUCTION

Dan Diner, Leipzig / Jerusalem

9:30–10:45 a.m.
I. FRAMING THE QUESTION

Chair: Dan Diner

David Ruderman, Philadelphia
Why Periodization Matters
On Early Modern Jewish Culture and the Haskalah

Shmuel Feiner, Ramat Gan
Discovering the Jewish New World
Haskalah and Secularization in the 18th Century

10:45–11:15 a.m. Coffee Break

11:15 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
II. SECULARIZATION – THEORIES AND TENDENCIES

Chair: Shmuel Feiner

Susanne Zepp, Leipzig
Literary Discourse and the Modernization of the Jews
The Case of Late Medieval Spain

Andrea Schatz, Princeton
Departing from Sinai
The Language of Secularization in the Controversies of the Early Haskalah

Todd Endelman, Ann Arbor
Theories of Secularization and the Transformation of the Jews An Overview

12:45–2:30 p.m. Lunch at the Institute

2:30–4:30 p.m.
III. ITALY AND SEPHARDIC AMSTERDAM: ROOTS OF JEWISH MODERNITY

Chair: David Ruderman

Adam Shear, Pittsburgh
“The Italian and Berlin Haskalah” Revisited Thinking about the Cultural Origins of Jewish Modernity

Francesca Bregoli, Philadelphia
Jewish Modernity and the Case of Italian Jewry A Historiographical Survey

Adam Sutcliffe, London
Seventeenth-Century Sephardic Amsterdam
On the Originary Myths of Jewish Modernity

Yosef Kaplan, Jerusalem
Secularizing the Portuguese Jews
Integration and Orthodoxy in Early Modern Judaism

4:30–5:00 p.m. Coffee Break

5:00–6:30 p.m.
IV. THE MODERNIZATION OF ASHKENAZI JEWRY:
LANGUAGE, TEXTUALITY AND PRINT CULTURE

Chair: Todd Endelman

Shlomo Berger, Amsterdam
Yiddish on the Borderline of Modernity
Language and Literature in Early Modern Ashkenazi Culture

Pawel Maciejko, Jerusalem
Print Culture and Jewish Religious Controversy
Two Debates of the 18th Century

Elchanan Reiner, Tel Aviv
Talmud and Hermeneutics
Changing Learning Patterns in 18th Century Traditional Jewry

Monday, July 3

9:00–10:30 a.m. V. INDICATORS OF MODERNITY

Chair: Yosef Kaplan

Michael G. Müller, Halle
Roads Towards Modernity?
The 18th Century in Central and Eastern Europe

Israel Bartal, Jerusalem
On Periodization, Mysticism and Enlightenment
The Case of RaMHa"l

Yossi Chajes, Haifa
‘Entzauberung’ of the Jewish World?
Perceiving Magic in Early Modern Judaism

10:30–11:00 a.m. Coffee Break

11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
VI. MYSTICISM AND MODERNITY

Chair: Israel Bartal

Ada Rapoport-Albert, London
Female Liberation in Frankist Doctrine
An Anonymous Manuscript from Prague c. 1800

Jacob Barnai, Haifa
A Turning Point in Jewish History?
On Sabbatianism and its Impact

Moshe Rosman, Ramat Gan
Jewish Modernization in Traditional Guise
The Case of Hasidism

12:30–2:00 p.m. Lunch at the Institute

2:00–3:30 p.m.
VII. DEFINING MODERNITY – THE CASE OF POLISH JEWRY

Chair: Michael G. Müller

Gershon Hundert, Montreal
Polish Jewry and Questions of “Modernity”
On the Periodization of Jewish History

Adam Teller, Haifa
On the Threshold of Modernity
Jewish Proposals to the Four Years' Sejm

Marcin Wodziński, Wrocław
'Civilized' or 'Modernized'?
Debating the Reform of Polish Jewry, 1788–1830

3:30–4:00 p.m. Coffee Break

4:00–5:30 p.m.
VIII. MODERNIZING MATERIAL LIFEWORLDS

Chair: Ada Rapoport-Albert

Jonathan Karp, Binghamton
Kings of the Age?
Dating Jewish Modernity in Economic History

François Guesnet, Potsdam
Guides of the Perplexed
At the Sources of Modern Jewish Politics

Dirk Sadowski, Leipzig
Diligent Children with Proper Haircuts
Disciplining Discourses in the Haskalah

5:30–5:45 p.m. Coffee Break

5:45–6:45 p.m. CONCLUDING DISCUSSION

Chair: Dan Diner

Israel Bartal, Shmuel Feiner, David Ruderman
and conference participants

Participants

Jacob Barnai, Haifa University
Israel Bartal, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Shlomo Berger, University of Amsterdam
Francesca Bregoli, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
Yossi Chajes, Haifa University
Dan Diner, Simon Dubnow Institute, Leipzig / The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Todd Endelman, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Shmuel Feiner, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan
François Guesnet, Potsdam University
Gershon Hundert, McGill University, Montreal
Yosef Kaplan, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Jonathan Karp, Binghamton University
Pawel Maciejko, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Michael G. Müller, Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg
Ada Rapoport-Albert, University College London
Elchanan Reiner, Tel Aviv University
Moshe Rosman, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan
David Ruderman, Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, Philadelphia
Dirk Sadowski, Simon Dubnow Institute, Leipzig
Andrea Schatz, Princeton University
Adam Shear, Pittsburgh University
Adam Sutcliffe, King’s College, London
Adam Teller, Haifa University
Marcin Wodziński, Wrocław University
Susanne Zepp, Simon Dubnow Institute, Leipzig

Venue:

Simon Dubnow Institute for Jewish History and Culture
Goldschmidtstraße 28, 04103 Leipzig
Phone 0049 – (0)341 – 217 35 50
Fax 0049 – (0)341 – 217 35 55
e-mail-address: hammer@dubnow.de
http://www.dubnow.de

Contact and Organization:

Dirk Sadowski
Phone 0049 – (0)341 – 217 35 56
e-mail-address: sadowski@dubnow.de

This conference is supported by:

German Research Foundation (DFG)

Saxon State Ministry of Science and the Fine Arts (SMWK)

Center for Research on the History and Culture of Polish Jews at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Samuel Braun Chair for the History of the Jews in Prussia at Bar Ilan University