Film and Discussion: Synagogue of Ancestral Commitments (2025, 100 min, USA, Brazil, Portugal. Dir. Alex Minkin)
MON 16. JUNE, 18:00
is a poetic documentary about Brazilian Jews who explore their spiritualities through Afro-Brazilian ancestral rituals. Brazilian artist Andre Feitosa discovered that his family comes from the Indigenous, enslaved Africans and Jews, forcibly converted by the Inquisition. Some of his ancestors were tortured by their slave owners, yet others burned alive for their Jewish faith, others expelled from Europe, then wandered around Brazil, changing their names, and hiding their past. Andre creates a community called "Synagogue of ancestral commitments” as a form of sacred healing art that combines Judaism and Afro-Brazilian religions.
Please Join us on the 16th of June for a screening of the film and a discussion with the director, Alex Minkin, Dr. André Feitosa, and Professor Andrea Kogan, moderated by our own Professor Jonathan Schorsch.
Saravá Shalom | Trailer (youtube)
Call for Applications: Winter School on Modern Talmudic Hermeneutics
December 16-18, 2025
Katholische Akademie Berlin
in cooperation with the University of Lille and Södertörn University
with Oded Schechter, Leora Batnitzky, Daniel Boyarin, Libera Pisano, Avinoam Stillman and Elad Lapidot
„Der Geschwisterbegriff in der christlich-jüdischen Beziehungsarbeit“, Daniel Vorpahl
in: transformatio; Bd. 4/1 (2025): Geschwister, 106-119.
Die Rede von Judentum und Christentum als Geschwisterreligionen steht in unmittelbarem Zusammenhang mit dem Prozess des jüdisch-christlichen Dialogs und ist damit vorrangig ein Produkt des 20. Jahrhunderts. Damit sei nicht ausgeschlossen, dass es auch viel früher schon Einzelaussagen auf christlicher wie auf jüdischer Seite gegeben hat, die mit Verweis auf die jeweils andere Religion bildsprachlich auf einen Geschwisterbegriff rekurrierten. Vor allem aber hat der Geschwisterbegriff sowohl im Judentum als auch im Christentum eine eigenständige Bedeutungsgenese durchlaufen, wobei verschiedene Anwendungstraditionen entwickelt wurden. Diese gilt es zu berücksichtigen, um darauf aufbauend in einer exegetischen Gegenwartsanalyse kritisch zu reflektieren, wie der Geschwisterbegriff im Kontext jüdisch-christlicher Beziehungsdiskurse Anwendung fand bzw. findet und inwiefern er dafür überhaupt als geeignet bzw. angemessen gelten kann.
Guest-Lecture: A Saint Against the State? The Revival of a Hasidic Miracle-Worker
14.05.2025, Mi. 13:00 Uhr at the University Potsdam, Haus 15
Dr. Sam Shuman (University of Virginia)
This lecture focuses on an emergent, transnational Hasidic revival movement centered around the Kerestirer Rebbe, Yeshaya Steiner (“Shayele”), a Hungarian “miracle-worker” who lived in Hungary from 1851-1925. His iconic portrait is commonly associated with mystical protection against the infestation of rodents in Jewish homes and businesses. Shuman reveals how this is only one small piece of Shayele’s broader populist appeal, however. They do this by interweaving hagiographic texts, Hasidic social media, and ethnography with anthropological theory and political theology on hospitality, sovereignty, and patronage.
Sam Shuman is Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and a core faculty member in the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Virginia (UVA).
Israeli Cinema Series: "Sweet Mud" by Dror Shaul
Sweet Mud (Hebrew: אדמה משוגעת, lit. 'Crazy Land') is a 2006 Israeli satirical drama film written and directed by Dror Shaul. The semi-autobiographical film was shot on the kibbutzim of Ruhama and Nir Eliyahu, and draws on Shaul's memories of growing up on a kibbutz with his mentally unstable and widowed mother (Source: Wikipedia).
Organised by the Hebrew Lecturers of the School of Jewish Theology, and Jewish Studies & Religious Studies
Save the Date: 06.05.2025, 16:30-19:00 Uhr at the University Potsdam
For further informations: yael.gaulanuuni-potsdampde or eik.doedtmann@uni-potsdam.de
Flyer for the Benno Jacob lecture series
Neuerscheinung (Open Access):
Ein Artikel von Dr. Daniel Vorpahl findet sich in dem bei Brill Schöningh erschienen Sammelband Experiencing the Hebrew Bible: Spotlights on History and Tradition. Der Beitrag mit dem Titel "The Gendering Garden" untersucht mit poststrukturalistischem Ansatz die Funktionsweisen und Konsequenzen binärer Denkstruktur im biblischen Schöpfungsmythos im Hinblick auf die Konstruktion von Geschlechterrollen bis in Rabbinica und zeitgenössische Jugendliteratur. Der Sammelband, mit weiteren spannenden Beiträgen von Emanuel Tov, Laurence H. Schiffman und anderen, ist open access zugänglich unter: https://brill.com/display/title/70354 Publikation: 10. März 2025
Theism in the Language of Humanism: Reincarnations of the Transcendent God in the Secular Subject
Dr. Ronen Pinkas; PD Dr. Elad Lapidot (Hg.): "The process of secularization can be defined as a shift in the focus of European thought from the transcendent God, the otherworldly, and the suprahuman, towards immanence, that is, towards
the world and the human condition in the world. Secularization represents a transition from theism to humanism. In light of this definition, one might conclude, as has often been done, that secularization resulted in the exclusion of God from thought and the removal of religion from the world. Nevertheless, post-secular thought offers a more nuanced and sophisticated perspective. (...)" pdf Publikation: August 2024
Jonathan Schorsch - Der grüne und wilde Sabbat – in der Moderne und gegen sie
in: Schöpfung für das Leben. Schöpfungsspiritualitäten in Deutschland im Dialog (Dennis Halft OP / Carolin Neuber /Klaus Vellguth (Hg.) 2024)
Die Menschheit ist heute im Zeitalter des »Anthropozäns«, angesichts der zunehmenden Zerstörung unserer Lebenswelt, herausgefordert, viele ihrer bisherigen Werte zu transformieren und ökosensible sowie umweltgerechte Kulturen und Lebensweisen zu entwickeln. Eine wichtige Ressource für diesen Transformationsprozess sind die Religionen und Weltanschauungen.(...) pdf
Statement Regarding Current Allegations of Sexual Harassment at the Abraham Geiger College
The School of Jewish Theology is appalled by the alleged sexual harassment at one of our partner institutions, the Abraham Geiger College, that has recently come to light. The Abraham Geiger College has found that an employee of theirs — who also taught as an adjunct in our study program — sexually harassed students on at least two occasions, leading to his termination. We are profoundly regretful for the harmful experiences to which these students have been subjected as well as for the insufficient protection they have received.
In 2020, the School of Jewish Theology instituted a new “Respectful Treatment and Protection from Discrimination” policy to promote a safe and equitable work and study environment. Needless to say, the cases that have come to light, as well as the published allegations of abuse of power, highlight the limitations of such institutional guidelines; we must all strive to realize their objectives even in the face of resistance. Harassment, violence, and discrimination in any form, as well as the abuse of power, have no place in the School of Jewish Theology and will not be tolerated.
Along with many others, we demand an independent, thorough and transparent investigation of all accusations and suspected cases of harassment and abuse of power at the Abraham Geiger College and the University of Potsdam, and we commit to actively support such a process. We also offer our full support to our students. If you have pertinent information to share, or if you would like to discuss the current allegations for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact the Student Council, trusted faculty members, or the Equal Opportunity Officer of the Faculty of Arts.
The members of the School of Jewish Theology