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Judaic Studies Newsletter
Fall 2000 | No. 1
Prof. Omer Bartov Spoke on Holocaust
 Dr. Omer Bartov, Professor of European History Department of History at Brown University, spoke on The
Holocaust: From Event and Experience to Memory and Representation on Thursday, November 9, 2000, at 7:30PM,
in the UCF Communications Building Auditorium, Room 101.
Dr. Bartov is a renowned scholar in Holocaust history and is currently the John P.
Birkelund Distinguished Professor of European History at Brown University. He has published several books
and numerous articles. Among his books: From Jud Suss to Hitler Youth Salomon: The Jew in Cinema , The
Eastern Front 1941-45: German Troops and the Barbarisation of Warfare (1985),along with Murder in Our
Midst: The Holocaust, Industrial Killing, and Representation (1996).
Prof. Michael V. Fox spoke on the Book of Job
 Dr. Michael V. Fox, Professor of Hebrew Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, spoke on "The Dimensions of Job," Monday, October 16, 2000, at 7:30PM in the UCF
Mathematics Building Auditorium, Room 260.
He also conducted a seminar on Biblical Wisdom and Its View of Women, Tuesday, October
17, 2000, at 10AM in the UCF Humanities and Fine Arts Building, Room 207E.
Scholar in the field of Bible studies, other ancient Hebrew texts and Egyptology, Dr.
Michael V. Fox is the Jay C. and Ruth Halls-Bascom Professor of Hebrew at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. He has received a variety of awards, grants and fellowships including the Kellet Mid-Career Award from U.W., a Rabbi Joseph L. Baron Faculty Achievement Award, and the Warburg
Prize from Hebrew University, to name just a few.
Director was Fellow of the Mendelssohn Institut at the University of Potsdam,
Germany
Moshe Pelli, Director and Professor of Judaic Studies, UCF, has been selected to be a Fellow of the
reputable Mendelssohn Institut für europäisch-jüdische Studien at the University of Potsdam,
Germany. He stayed at this Center for Advanced Studies of European Jewry during the month of May 2000, and
conducted a graduate seminar of Ph.D. students on the subject of Haskalah (18th- and 19th-centuries Hebrew
Enlightenment).
In addition, Prof. Pelli was invited by the Einstein Forum at the Potsdam University to
deliver a lecture on May 4, 2000, on the topic "Literature of Haskalah (Enlightenment) in the Late 18th
Century." The Einstein Forum is a renowned Center for Advanced Studies.
Following Prof. Pelli's seminars and lectures in Germany, he delivered two lectures at
Universitat Paris 8 - Department d'Etudes Juives et Hebraiques, May 23 and 24, 2000. The first lecture was
on the literature of the Hebrew Enlightenment, and the second was on the first Hebrew journal, Hame'asef
published from the 1780s to 1811.
While visiting these two universities, Pelli continued to conduct his research in
Haskalah and discussed joint research ventures with members of the respective Jewish Studies departments.
Prof. Dr. Julius H. Scheops is the head of the department at Potsdam University; Dr. Christoph Schulte and
Dr. Matthias Kross coordinated his seminars and lectures, and Dr. Gideon Kuts coordinated his visit to the
Paris Univeristy.
UCF Music & Judaic Studies Performance
The Department of Music in cooperation with the Judaic Studies Program at UCF will present "The Arman Trio" from Paris, November 4, 2000, after their Paris performance and before their New York debut on November 8, 2000 at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall.
Violinist Costantin Bogdanas, and cellist Dorel Fodoreanu will join Pianist Deniz Arman Gelenbe in a program of paino trios of Brahms, Arensky and Benjamin Lees. The second trio "Silent
Voices" by Benjamin Lees, was commissioned and dedicated to the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum and was first performed in 1998 in Washington. The Arman Trio will give the first performances in Paris, New York and Orlando in honor of the 75th birthday of Benjamin Lees.
The concert is November 4, 2000 at 8:00pm, at the Music Rehearsal Hall. Tickets at $10
for general admission will be sold at the door. IT is free for students with UCF ID.
Director Attended European Conference
On September 10-14, 2000, Dr. Moshe Pelli attended the European Conference of Hebrew Professors which took
place in Milan, Italy. He presented a paper on the first Hebrew journal, Hame'asef.
Dr. Pelli held discussions with European Universities, such as Paris 8 University, about future cooperation between UCF Judaic Studies and the respective departments in Europe.
Four Judaic Studies Graduates
Four students have graduated with a minor in Judaic Studies last Spring semester. They are Jennifer
Caracelo, Gerald Werner, Karyn Steinberg, and Luis Plazas.
They completed 18 credits in Judaic Studies plus 8 credit hours of Hebrew as part of their requirements.
Faculty Highlights...
Prof. Moshe Pelli is Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Judaic Studies, and a professor of
Judaic Studies. His major area of specialization is Modern Hebrew Literature, especially Hebrew Haskalah
(Enlightenment) in the 18th and 19th centuries. He has written extensively on the Literature of the
Holocaust, and has lectured on Literature of the Bible. He has taught courses in these areas. He is widely
published: six scholarly books on Hebrew Enlightenment and 136 research papers, 2 novels, 8 children books,
3 text anthologies, 38 review articles, 59 book reviews, 4 bibliographies and indices, 15 short stories.
Awarded the Friedman Prize for his contribution to Hebrew Culture in USA in 1991, he was the Researcher of
the Year award for 1996 at UCF, and many other awards and grants. He was Fellow of the prestigious Moses
Mendelssohn Center at the University of Potsdam in Germany in May 2000. He is listed in many Who's Who
books in USA, Europe and Israel. He is on the editorial board of Lamishpaha, Hebrew Monthly, and a member
of the Executive Council of the National Association of Professors of Hebrew in the USA.
Prof. Joseph Gutmann is an Adjunct Professor in the University of Central Florida Judaic Studies
Program, teaching courses in the spring semesters. He is Prof. Emeritus of Art History, Wayne State
University, Detroit and Adjunct Curator Emeritus of the Detroit Institute of Art. He has published 18
books, including Hebrew Manuscript Painting (twice featured as a Book of the Month Club selection which
sold 38,000 copies and was issued in French, Dutch, German and English editions). He has also contributed
over 200 learned articles to leading scholarly journals and encyclopedias and writes a monthly column,
Gutmann on Art, for the National Jewish Post and Opinion. He teaches history, cultural history,
archaeology, and Biblical art. He received an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York in 1999.
Dr. Kenneth Hanson is an Adjunct Professor in the University of Central Florida Judaic Studies Program. He has published three books, which are in their second printings, including Words of Light: Spiritual Wisdom from the Dead Sea Scrolls, released in March 2000, Dead Sea Scrolls: The Untold Story, Treasures in Earthen Vessels: The Legacy of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Words of Light is featured (with a seven
page essay) in the August 2000 issue of Jewish Book News. Dr. Hanson also continues to give public
lectures. In the coming months he will be speaking in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Michigan,
North Carolina, and Miami. He teaches History, Culture, Dead Sea Scrolls and Bible. He is also an Adjunct
Professor at Rollins College in the Department of Religion and Philosophy.
Dr. Moshe Elbaz is an Adjunct Professor in the University of Central Florida Judaic Studies
Program. He has been teaching Hebrew courses in the University of Central Florida for the past 12 years and
has been an educator for the past 25 years. In the past four years Dr. Elbaz has served as the spiritual
leader of the newest Conservative Congregation in Central Florida, where he strides to promote education
and social action. Dr. Elbaz volunteers in the Seminole County Public Schools, speaking about Judaism and
the Holocaust. In 1999, Dr. Elbaz introduced a Statewide Community College System Judaic Studies program.
Together with Dr. Hanson, the program was presented to the director of Academic/Vocational Planning and
Review Committee, and in June 2000 it was presented to the College Vice President of Academics. It is hoped
that the Central Florida Community Colleges will begin offering Judaic classes in the fall of 2001. Dr.
Elbaz is the recipient of several awards including the Jewish National Fund Shalom Award and Sinai Award
among others. Dr. Elbaz leads an annual tour to Israel.
Mr. Merril Shapiro teaches the history of Judaism. He is the spiritual leader of Beth Am
Congregation in Longwood, FL, and an active member of the Orlando board of Rabbis.
Recent Publications and Research Activities
Dr. Moshe Pelli has published the following articles:
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"When Did Haskalah Begin? Establishing the Beginning of Haskalah and the Definition of 'Modernism,'" Leo
Baeck Institute Year Book, XLIV (1999), pp. 55-96.
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"Hameasef Project: An Annotated, Computerized Index of the First Hebrew Periodical," Hadoar, 74, (17,
July 28,2000), pp. 22-23; (18, August 11, 2000), pp. 21-23 [Hebrew].
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"Poetry and Poetic Theory in Hameasef, the First Modern Periodical in Hebrew Haskalah," Dappim Research
in Literature, 12 (1999/2000), pp. 65-116 [Hebrew].
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"Hameasef (1783-1811): Breakthrough in Hebrew Periodical Literature: the History, Way and Essense of the
First Modern Hebrew Periodical," Hadoar, 79 (19, August 25, 2000), pp. 18-21; (20, September 9, 2000),
pp. 18-20;
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