PURIM EDITION Beyond the H TOYRE an HJS Purim Edition special! J by Tali Loewenthal

S MARK GELLER "This is the real purpose of an Erasmus exchange... Well done, Yakir!"

MAN &GOD an original musical by Michael Berkowitz Contents 05 News

02 Welcome

05 News

07 Man & God Man & God 13 Erasmus Visit of Yakir Paz 07 By Michael Berkowitz

16 Qaraite and Rabbanite Calendars

19 From Sonja Noll

20 Beyond the Purim Toyre Erasmus Visit of 27 A New Joint Project: Yakir Paz Contemporary 13 By Mark Geller Hasidic

30 Lectures

32 UCL Alumni Online Community

33 Events Beyond the Purim Toyre ON THE COVER Poster for 'The Tsar Wants His 20 By Tali Loewenthal Photograph Taken', a comic opera being produced by Michael Berkowitz

Editorial Team: Die Hu, Elliott McLean de Boer 01 SACHA STERN WELCOME FROM THE HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

I am writing this piece soon after our first ever alumni reception, which was held last week (Thursday 7 March). It brought together many old friends and faces, students, recent graduates, as well as alumni from many decades gone by. In hosting this event, we made it clear that students remain part of our community even many years after leaving – we remember, in fact, far more of our students than they are probably themselves aware. Just finding out what everyone was doing, and how a degree in Hebrew and could lead to most interesting careers, started off some very good conversations. We look forward to repeating this event on a regular basis, and to meet whoever was not able to make it this time round.

02 A few more things to report. The Our ambition, as always, is to return to the Department of Mark offer our students the broadest Geller, after nearly ten years of range of options, and to update secondment in Berlin, has continually our teaching in line brought about notable with the latest developments in developments in the Institute of research. Jewish Studies, of which he is the long-standing Director. Many The impending approach to will have noted that this year’s Brexit, in the coming weeks, IJS public lecture series has worries us in more than one way. significantly expanded, with the Brexit is bound to affect our enhanced participation of our prospects of recruiting students academic, research and teaching from Europe. EU students have staff, who have been contributing made a considerable contribution some excellent lectures on their to the Department for as long as current research. I can remember, and it would devastating for us to see them As the second term of the year is dwindle away. about to end, we are already planning our teaching provision Brexit also casts a shadow on for next year, with a number of the future of research funding in brand new courses including the UK and, in particular, in our attractive half-unit modules on Department. Much of our past ‘The history of the Hebrew funding, which was used for language’ and ‘Israel and employing early career staff and Palestine’. We are also running very successful research developing longer-term plans for projects, workshops, and the creation of entirely new conferences has come from degree programmes. It is too European funding such as the early for any announcements to ERC (European Research be made, but I hope to report on Council). this further at the next newsletter.

03 Although the government has For us, this is made worse by the pledged to underwrite and inherently international character replace any loss of EU funding of our field: in Jewish Studies, after Brexit, I somehow doubt research and innovation strives that this pledge will ever be on collaborations with research fulfilled. Even if it does colleagues in Israel, Europe, and materialize, UK replacement the USA. Cutting out our links funding will come with terms and with Europe will not be to our conditions that are the trademark advantage – but who knows what of British research councils: for is still to come. example, the obligation to ‘prove’ that research generates societal Sacha Stern and/or economic impact. British Head of Department obsession with ‘impact’, which has been developing over the last ten years, is restrictive and counter-productive: it stifles research, subdues it to external, political agendas, and steers it away from innovation, discovery, and the open-minded expansion of human knowledge. The loss of Happy European funding, which until now has been awarded on the sole criterion academic excellence, will be most regrettable. Purim!

04 HJS NEWS

1 2 3

MARK GELLER ALUMNI EVENT SONJA NOLL

A Festschrift in his The alumni event Sonja Noll is sadly honour, featuring was held on 7th leaving us in mid- contributions from March 2019 in the June, for a new 38 academics, was Wilkins Garden teaching job in presented early this room for staff and Santiago. We thank year to Mark Geller students, present her for the past four entitled: and past years, and wish her Mesopotamian good luck in her Medicine and Magic new adventure “ We'll miss you, Sonja! ”

9 | B O O K I S H M A G A Z I N E 05 06 Michael Berkowitz

Musical Matters: Man & God, an original musical about the inventors of Kodachrome and The Tsar Wants His Photograph Taken, a one-act comic opera by Kurt Weill & Georg Kaiser

Throughout this past academic The programme is intended to year I've attempted to turn my encourage UCL faculty to research, and general scholarly sponsor events, open to the and teaching interests, into general public, that complement performance-based events for a their research and teaching. With general public. So, nu, what's a a colleague from the University historian doing in a of York, Dr Lisa Peschel, I theatre? What does this have to proposed to stage a play and do with modern Jewish several songs and comedic history? In short, it's a means to scenes that were created by transform scholarship into prisoners in the Theresienstadt 'impact'--which is (supposedly) a during the Second World significant part of how we are to War. One half of the show be evaluated, as a department, comprised a one-act play, "The by the powers-that-be. Smoke from Home", and the other half a cabaret under the But as to be expected, from my heading "Laugh With Us". perspective, there's a story behind this. In 2014 I was For "The Smoke from Home" we awarded use of the Bloomsbury employed the director from an Theatre at a fraction of the usual earlier series of performances hire fee, for performances in held in York, and for "Laugh With early February 2015, though a Us" we selected Leo Doulton— university-wide staff who was then in his last year of a competition. history BA at UCL.

07 Directing such a set of period I proposed to produce Kurt Weill pieces, originally in Czech, from and Georg Kaiser's one-act the 1940s, would be difficult comic opera, Der Zar lässt sich enough. But the fact that it was photographieren [The Tsar wants the highly complicated work of his photograph taken] concentration camp inmates, (1927). This is a Weimar-era most of whom were murdered, opera buffa—an unconventional made it an incredibly challenging but popular show that was prospect. Dealing with musical immediately shut down upon the comedy in the context of the Nazi takeover of power in Holocaust is perplexing for the Germany in 1933. I selected it most seasoned professionals. because I have been writing about the Jewish engagement In sum: Leo's work, and that of with photography, which I believe his cast and crew, was is an important subtext of the absolutely outstanding. The opera. Kurt Weill apparently show was bold, funny, exciting— modeled the photographer from and deeply moving. his own preferred portraitists, Lotte Jacobi and Elli Macus. For In no small part due to my an opera, the story itself is extremely positive experience relatively interesting, and the with the Theresienstadt project-- l