What is the Talmud? A Conference

What is the Talmud?
A conference sponsored by The Center for Jewish Studies, The Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law and The Littauer Chair in Hebrew Literature and Philosophy; Harvard University

The purpose of this conference is to create a forum in which we can collectively
consider foundational questions about the Babylonian Talmud and how it is
understood today: what is the Babylonian Talmud? Who composed it? For whom?
Who is speaking in the Babylonian Talmud? In order to do what? What do we
know about its genre, authorship and purpose?

TUESDAY MAY 2, 2023 10AM-1PM	Opening Remarks Christine Hayes Noah Feldman Panel 1: The Babylonian Talmud: Text and Context Jonathan Milgram – Theories of Formation/Redaction Alyssa Gray – The Palestinian Amoraic Inheritance in the Bavli: The Case of Tractate Temurah Yair Furstenberg – The Evolution of Amoraic Halakhah BREAK Barak S. Cohen – The Legal Methodology of the Amoraim Isaiah Gafni – Discipleship and Ordination, Courts and Halakhah le-ma’aseh, Academies and convocations Geoffrey Herman – The Exilarch, his Supporters and Detractors Click to Join
THURSDAY MAY 4, 2023 10AM-12PM	Panel 2: The World of the Babylonian Talmud Moshe Lavee – Gentiles in the Talmudic Imagination Charlotte Fonrobert – Social History of Gender and Discourses of Sexuality in the Talmud Avigail Manekin – The Bavli and the Bowls: A Prolegomenon Tzvi Novick – Theology and Messianism in the Bavli Click to Join
TUESDAY MAY 9, 2023 10AM-12PM	Panel 3: The Bavli and Empire Studies Yael Wilfand and Reuven Kiperwasser – Rome in the Babylonian Rabbinic Imaginaire Simcha Gross – The Impact of Sasanian Imperialism on the Culture and Literature of the Babylonian Rabbis Michal Bar-Asher Siegal – Christianity In and Around the Talmud Shai Secunda – The Bavli and Zoroastrianism Click to Join
THURSDAY MAY 11, 2023 10AM-12PM	Panel 4: Talmudic Discourse I Ayelet Hoffman Libson – The Hermeneutics of Mishnaic Interpretation Willem Smelik – Bilingualism: Hebrew and Aramaic as Literary Strata Shira Shmidman – Sources and Redaction, Preservation and Invention Barry Wimpfheimer – The Stam and the Stamma’im Click to Join
TUESDAY MAY 16, 2023 10AM-12PM	Panel 5: Talmudic Discourse II Richard Hidary – Makhloket, Legal Pluralism, Polysemy Mira Wasserman– Halakhah and Aggadah Eliezer Segal – What is Aggadah: Views from the Bavli Yishai Kiel – The Bavli’s Jurisprudence Click to Join
THURSDAY MAY 18, 2023 10AM-12PM	Panel 6: New Directions in Talmud Study Sarit Kattan Gribetz and Lynn Kaye – Time and the Talmud M. Adryael Tong – Queer Approaches to Talmud Beth Berkowitz – Animal Studies and the Talmud Julia Watts Belser – Disability Studies and the Talmud Max Strassfeld – Respondent Click to Join
TUESDAY MAY 23, 2023 10AM-12PM	Panel 7: The Talmud: Reception and Study I Robert Brody – Inscription, Reception, Study in the Geonic Period Ephraim Kanarfogel – Talmudic Commentary from Rashi through the Fifteenth Century: Forms, Aims, and Interactions Talya Fishman – Medieval Jewish Concerns about the Place of Talmud in Curriculum and Society Click to Join
TUESDAY MAY 30, 2023 10AM-12PM	Panel 8: The Talmud: Reception and Study II Yakov Z. Mayer – The Talmud in Christian Europe Jay Harris – What Was the Talmud? Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Jewish Scholarship Weighs In David Stern – Material Transmission of the Talmud: from the Genizah to Steinsaltz and Schottenstein Click to Join
THURSDAY JUNE 1, 2023 10AM-1PM	Panel 9: Contexts of Contemporary Talmud Study and Closing Remarks Shlomo Zuckier – Daf Yomi and the Resurgence of Talmud Study in the Traditional Jewish World Tal Ilan – Feminist Approaches to the Babylonian Talmud Ruth Calderon – The Role of the Talmud in the Secular Jewish Renaissance in Israel Daniel Boyarin: What is Talmud? Click to Join