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Judaic Studies Newsletter
Fall 1999 | No. 1
Prof. Yaffa Eliach: "Restoring a Vanished Past"
Noted Holocaust scholar, Prof. Yaffa Eliach, will be the first distinguished speaker in the Judaic Studies series for the Spring of 2000. Prof. Eliach will present a lecture with slides on "Restoring a Vanished Past -- There Once Was A World," on Wednesday, January 19, 2000, at 7:30 PM, at the UCF Visual Arts auditorium. She will also conduct a seminar on "Spiritual Resistance -- Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust," on Thursday, January 20, 2000, at 10 AM, in the UCF Phillips Hall Building.
Yaffa Eliach is a Professor of History and Literature in the Department of Judaic Studies at Brooklyn College, with areas of specialty in Eastern European history, Russian intellectual history, Holocaust studies, and Hasidism. She is a pioneering scholar in Holocaust studies, and the creator of the Tower of Life at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. A soaring display made up of 1500 photographs depicting the people of a typical East European shtetl, the Tower of Life has been seen by millions of visitors and is considered by many the most moving exhibit at the Museum.
Professor Eliach won the 1998 National Book Award for There Once Was A World: A 900-Year Cronicle of the Shtetl of Eishyshok, which recounts the history of the shtetl portrayed in the tower.
Three Judaic Scholars Lectured in the Fall
Three internationally renowned Judaic Studies Scholars spoke at UCF this Fall semester in the Distinguished
Lecturers Series. They presented five lectures in the areas of
politics and religion in Israel, Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism),
Hasidism, the Hebrew Bible and modern Israeli literature
Prof. Charles S. Liebman, Professor of Politics and Religion at
Bar Ilan University in Israel, presented a lecture entitled
"Religious Pluralism in Israel" on October 19, 1999. His
lecture encompassed the whole gamut of religious experience in
Israel, the clashes between the Orthodox factions and the
Conservative and Reform groups in Israel.
"Messianism and Mysticism in Judaism" was the
topic of Prof. Moshe Idel, Professor of Kabbalah at the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem. He spoke on Octover 21, 1999, in an evening
lecture open to the public. Prof. Idel reviewed the notion of
mysticism in historical Judaism and explained the historical
development of the idea of messianism in Judaism. Prof. Idel, a
world-renowned authority of Kabalah and Hasidism, also presented a
seminar on "Hasidism: Ecstasy and Magic."
The third scholar to participate in the lecture series, which
commenced its 15th year, was Prof. Yair Mazor, Professor of Hebrew
Literature and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at the
University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Prof. Mazor presented a public
lecture on November 3, 1999, on the topic "The Bible as
Literature: Poetics and Ideology in the Bible." He
presented his theory of the literary appreciation of the Bible by
discussing examples from the book of Genesis. Prof. Mazor also
conducted a seminar on "Leading Trends in Contemporary Israeli
Poetry," discussing such poets as David Vogel, Yehuda Amichai,
and Nathan Zach. He also met with Honors students in a special
luncheon.
The evening lectures were followed by receptions where community
people, faculty, and students mingled and discussed the lectures.
These lectures were co-sponsored by the Honors College, the Office
of International Studies, and the Office of Diversity, and supported
by the Friends of UCF Judaic Studies.
Serving
the Community:
Student and Faculty Highlights
Members of Community Awarded Judaic Certificate
The list of our graduates from the community who have complete
their couse of studies increased recently. Mrs. Evlyn Melnik and Mr.
Marvin Shey have complete the requirements for a Certificate in
Judaic Studies. A Certificate requires five courses in Judaic
Studies. The Certificate will be awarded at the end of the Fall
Semester.
Students Get a Minor in Judaic Studies
Two full-time UCF Students have graduated this past summer
semester with a Minor in Judaic Studies. They are Joanna Shelton and
Melissa Van DeWater. Congrats!
Faculty Highlights...
Dr. Joseph Gutmann, adjunct
professor in our program: On May 13, 1999, Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York, awarded Prof. Joseph
Gutmann an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters for "outstanding
contributions to the history of Jewish Art and culture."
Moshe Elbaz, Ph.D. writes and lectures in the
community on the Hebrew Bible and Middle East. In 1998, Cong. Beth
El awarded him the Sinai Award.
Dr. Ken Hanson forthcoming book, Words of Light:
Hidden Wisdom from the Dead Sea Scrolls, is currently being edited
and is scheduled for publication in March.
Prof. Bruce Pauley, Professor of History and member of
the Judaic Studies Academic Committee, is a world-renouned authority
on Austrian history and World War II. Prof. Pauley has served over
the past year as an expert witness by the War Crimes Division of the
Canadian Justice Department in the case of a former member of the Austrian
Nazi Part. The latter is accused of illegally entering Canada after
having served in the SS in Galicia and having been involved in the
Holocaust. When this case is concluded next year, Prof. Pauley
intends to write an article, showing why this man joined the
Austrian Nazi Party and the SS. He plans to use the complete
transcript of the hearing, documents from the Nazi period, and the
reports of other expert witnesses.
Hebrew
Association of America Honors Prof. Moshe Pelli upon the Publication
of His Book.
Prof. Moshe Pelli, Director of UCF's Judaic Studies,
was honored on March 7, 1999, by the Histadruth Ivrith of America,
the Hebrew Language and Culture Association, at a special literary
event held in New York in recognition of the publication of his book
Hebrew Culture in America: 80 Years of the Hebrew Movement in the
USA.
The book is the most authoritative and comprehensive history
of Hebrew Culture in the US from 1916 to 1995. The literary
gathering was opened by Rabbi Abraham Kupchik, Executive Vice
President of Histadruth Ivrith. He congratulated Prof. Pelli on the
publication of the book. Subsequently, the President of the
Association, Ms. Miriam Ostow, thanked Moshe Pelli for devoting his
energies and skill to such a vital cultural project.
Prof. Jacob Kabakoff, a noted historian of Hebrew letters in
America, presented his evaluation of the tome and praised its
author. The speaker cited the book's comprehensive scope, its
scholarly accuracy, and the writer's well-documented presentations.
"Pelli summarized authentically the history of the Hebrew
movement in his book Hebrew culture in America,"
Kabakoff said. "He excelled in delineating the myriad
ideologies offered by the pundits of the movement."
Subsequently, Dr. Carol Diament, National Education Director of
Hadassah, the Jewish Zionist Women Organization, spoke. Dr. Diament
is a 'graduate' of the Hebrew Youth organization which was headed by
Moshe Pelli in the 1960's. The speaker mentioned Pelli's
contributions to the ideology of the Hebrew youth movement.
"His book is a major contribution to the history of that
important movement in American Jewish life," she said.
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