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Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
@katzcenterupenn.bsky.social
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The University of Pennsylvania's research center for the study of Jewish civilization —linking scholars to scholars, researchers to resources, and ideas to the wider world.
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Learn about Jewish manuscripts in Penn's collections.
katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...
In the Spotlight: Penn’s Jewish Manuscripts
Binge-Watch the SIMS-Katz Lectures in Jewish Manuscript Studies
katz.sas.upenn.edu
November 18, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
thejqr.bsky.social
JQR 115.4 is out, feat. essays on conversion to Judaism in antiquity, 13th c. philosophical commentaries, Jüdisch-Deutsch novellas, and the winding modern reception of a 17th c. rabbi, PLUS a text and translation of a medieval prose-poetry story!

Peruse the TOC:
katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...
New Issue of the Jewish Quarterly Review: Fall 2025
JQR 115.4 is now available, online and in print
katz.sas.upenn.edu
November 17, 2025 at 1:54 PM
katzcenterupenn.bsky.social
The Katz Center is delighted to announce a new book edited by former fellows Lila Corwin Berman, Deborah Dash Moore, and Beth S. Wenger. The Future of American Jewish Pasts showcases the research that grew from the 2020–21 fellowship year. Click below to learn more!
www.pennpress.org/978151282824...
The Future of American Jewish Pasts – Penn Press
Leading scholars of American Jewish experience offer bold historical interpretations that reimagine American Jewish studiesThe Future of American Jewish Past...
www.pennpress.org
November 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
katzcenterupenn.bsky.social
Tuesday, November 18, scholar Jonathan L. Dekel-Chen will analyze the horrors that have befallen Israel and the people of Gaza and detail his own efforts advocating for the release of the hostages including his son. Learn more below.
katz.sas.upenn.edu/events/theor...
From Theory to Practice after October 7: Informal Diplomacy and Transnational Advocacy
katz.sas.upenn.edu
November 12, 2025 at 8:10 PM
katzcenterupenn.bsky.social
In her seminar last week, Katz Center fellow Tamar Hess examined contemporary Israeli "national religious" poetry. Enjoy these highlights!
November 11, 2025 at 6:36 PM
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Enjoy these highlights from the annual SIMS-Katz Distinguished Fellow's Lecture in Jewish Manuscript Studies. Professor Javier del Barco (Complutense University of Madrid) analyzed the unique features of two medieval Hebrew biblical manuscripts.
November 10, 2025 at 8:44 PM
katzcenterupenn.bsky.social
Now on YouTube: watch Douglas Irvin-Ericksondelve into the debates and controversies grew around the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh76...
On the Origins of the Genocide Concept: Raphael Lemkin and the Holocaust's Aftermath
YouTube video by Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
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November 7, 2025 at 4:11 PM
katzcenterupenn.bsky.social
The Katz Center is pleased to coproduce with our colleagues at the Weitzman, Antisemitism, An American Tradition: Book Launch & Conversation with Pam Nadell and Dan Tadmor. Thursday, November 13 at the Weitzman: click below to learn more.
theweitzman.org/events/antis...
"Antisemitism, An American Tradition" | Book Launch & Conversation with Pamela Nadell and Dan Tadmor
Go beyond the headlines with Weitzman CEO Dan Tadmor and acclaimed historian Pam Nadell, who upends the assumption that antisemitism in America is new or imported. From the first Jewish settlers in 16...
theweitzman.org
November 6, 2025 at 6:25 PM
katzcenterupenn.bsky.social
Join us Tuesday, November 11 when scholars A. Dirk Moses and Zoé Samudzi will approach the history and implications of the concept and reality of genocide from two distinct but interconnected perspectives.
katz.sas.upenn.edu/events/genoc...
Genocide, Race, and Colonialism: Lessons from History
katz.sas.upenn.edu
November 5, 2025 at 7:27 PM
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Check out this this conversation with Author Steven Ujifusa tomorrow, November 5. Katz Center director Steve Weitzman will join our colleagues at PennNYC to moderate. www.penn.nyc/s/1587/gid2/...
November 4, 2025 at 7:53 PM
katzcenterupenn.bsky.social
Penn Today profiled Ross-Silk-Lowenstein Postdoctoral Fellow Mendel Kranz. Click below to learn more about his research examining how contemporary antisemitism intertwines with racism and discrimination.
tinyurl.com/2eh8djpc
New Katz Center fellowship amplifies study of antisemitism through classes, events, and community | Penn Today
Mendel Kranz, the inaugural recipient of the Ross-Silk-Lowenstein Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, elevates awareness and critical inquiry into antisemitism through r...
penntoday.upenn.edu
November 4, 2025 at 4:19 PM
katzcenterupenn.bsky.social
In advance of tomorrow's lecture, in Sephardic Bible bookcraft, Professor Javier del Barco drew participants into an archaeological survey of Penn Libraries’ MS Codex 1052, Hebrew Bible manuscript possibly produced in Modena, Italy, around 1480. Learn more below
www.library.upenn.edu/.../sephardi...
November 3, 2025 at 7:45 PM
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Tomorrow at the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies & Katz Center Distinguished Fellow Javier del Barco will explore Sephardic bible book craft in two manuscripts from Library at the Katz Center. Click below to learn more.
katz.sas.upenn.edu/events/sepha...
The Sephardic Bible Bookcraft: Codicology, Layout, and Contents in Two Manuscripts at the Library of The Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
katz.sas.upenn.edu
November 3, 2025 at 2:32 PM
katzcenterupenn.bsky.social
Enjoy these highlight's from Wednesday's seminar, Diversity, Ethnicity, and Belonging: American Jewry Transformed led by fellow Gal Levy.
October 31, 2025 at 7:09 PM
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Read a conversation with Katz Center fellow Marjorie Feld as she examines the philosophies of contemporary Jewish farmers.
katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/bl...
Q&A: Marjorie Feld Asks What the Phenomenon of Jewish Farmers Might Tell Us about This Moment in History
Katz Center fellow Marjorie Feld understands the contemporary decision to work the land as Jews as one best seen in the context of other progressive commitments animating leftist activism in the Unite...
katz.sas.upenn.edu
October 30, 2025 at 3:46 PM
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This talk begins today at 12:00 pm ET
katz.sas.upenn.edu/events/origi...
On the Origins of the Genocide Concept: Raphael Lemkin and the Holocaust's Aftermath
katz.sas.upenn.edu
October 29, 2025 at 12:51 PM
katzcenterupenn.bsky.social
This #fellowtuesday we're spotlighting 2025–26 fellow Edward Waysband. As part of this year's theme New Frontiers in Contemporary Jewish Life, Waysband's research focuses on Russian-Israeli reinvention of the Levant. Click below to read more about Edward Waysband!
katz.sas.upenn.edu/who-we-are/e...
Edward Waysband
Edward Waysband is an adjunct lecturer at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and teaches at Shalem Academic College. He was a visiting researcher at the University of Toronto, the University of Caen-N...
katz.sas.upenn.edu
October 28, 2025 at 5:16 PM
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The Katz Center is delighted to congratulate 2024–25 fellow Ahuvia Goren on winning an Ephraim Urbach grant from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture!
October 27, 2025 at 6:41 PM
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Check out these highlight's from Wednesday's seminar, The Israeli Organ: Embodiment and Emotion in the Wake of October 7 featuring fellow Orian Zakai.
October 24, 2025 at 7:03 PM
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"an impor­tant book that puts for­ward a bold the­sis..." Click below to read the Jewish Book Council's review of After Revelation, part of the Jewish Culture and Contexts series.
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www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/after-r...
After Revelation: The Rabbinic Past in the Medieval Islamic World
Jewish thought and practice are dynamic; they change through time.
www.jewishbookcouncil.org
October 23, 2025 at 3:41 PM
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Join us next Wednesday, October 29 at noon ET. Douglas Irvin Erickson will introduce debates and controversies that emerged in the early history of the UN Genocide Convention. Click below to register.
katz.sas.upenn.edu/events/origi...
On the Origins of the Genocide Concept: Raphael Lemkin and the Holocaust's Aftermath
katz.sas.upenn.edu
October 22, 2025 at 7:02 PM
katzcenterupenn.bsky.social
This #fellowtuesday we're spotlighting 2025–26 fellow Joshua Shanes. As part of this year's theme New Frontiers in Contemporary Jewish Life, Shanes's research focuses on the Evangelicalization of Orthodoxy. Click below to read more about Joshua Shanes!
katz.sas.upenn.edu/who-we-are/j...
October 21, 2025 at 3:28 PM
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There are 3 weeks left to apply to the Katz Center's 2026–27 fellowship, War and Peace in Jewish Thought and History. Click below to learn more!
katz.sas.upenn.edu/scholarly-pr...
October 20, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
sims-mss.bsky.social
For #CoffeeWithACodex on October 23 (Noon ET, on Zoom), we'll bring out CAJS Rar Ms. 534, a manuscript written by Moses Gomez de Mesquita documenting his administration and institution of prayer customs for the Sephardim in England.. #medievalsky #cwac

Register here: https://bit.ly/4oldipr
Coffee with a Codex: Sephardim in England
For Coffee With A Codex on October 23, Judaica Special Collections Cataloging Librarian Louis Meiselman will bring out CAJS Rar Ms. 534, a manuscript written by Moses Gomez de Mesquita documenting his...
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October 19, 2025 at 7:18 PM
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Tuesday, October 21 at 5:15 pm, join our colleagues at the Penn Jewish Studies Department for a book talk with 2015–16 Katz Center fellow John M. Efron. Efron will discuss his new book, All Consuming: Germans, Jews, and the Meaning of Meat.
jwst.sas.upenn.edu/events/2025/...
October 16, 2025 at 6:12 PM