European Association for Jewish Studies IX CONGRESS JUDAISM IN THE MEDITERRANEAN CONTEXT PROGRAM AND ABSTRACTS Edited by Mauro Perani, Marta Porcedda and Enrica Sagradini Ravenna (Italy), 25th-29th July 2010 Welcome of the President of the European Association for Jewish Studies Dear participants to the 9th Congress of the EAJS, as the President of the Association I am glad to welcome this audience and to extend my heartfelt greetings to all of you. Our Association was founded in 1981 to promote Jewish Studies in Europe, and today it counts more than 400 members from various countries such as Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany, Russia, the Netherlands, Poland and others, as well as members from Israel and the USA. Ravenna is ide- ally situated between Moscow and Paris where the last Congress was celebrated and where the next one will take place in 2014. EAJS is not only a driving force for Jewish Studies in Europe, it also serves as a connection and coordination for the European national associations of Jewish Studies. For example, the Italian Association for Jewish Studies and the EAJS are reciprocally linked through their web- sites, and we are planning to create an advisory board in which all the presidents of European national associations will serve as members. After its foundation in 1981, and a first conference celebrated in July 1982, the first Congress of the EAJS was held in Hertford College Oxford, on 18–21 July 1983 where Dr Geza Ver- mes was elected as president and the first Constitution of the EAJS was discussed and ac- cepted. The second Congress was held in 1984 again in Oxford at Hertford College, 22–26 July. In 1987 (26–31 July), the third Congress took place in Berlin under the presidency of Prof. Arnold Goldberg and organised by Professor Peter Schäfer and the Institut für Judais- tik. The 950th anniversary of the birth of Rashi offered the setting for the fourth Congress, held 8–13 July 1990 in Troyes, under the presidency of Dr Gabrielle Sed-Rajna with an opening ses- sion in the Institut de France in Paris. The fifth Congress was held in Copenhagen, 14–18 Au- gust 1994 under the presidency of Dr. Ulf Haxen. In 1998 the sixth Congress was held in Toledo, 19–23 July, under the presidency of Prof. Angel Sáenz Badillos, and in 2002 the sev- enth Congress took place in Amsterdam, 21–25 July, under the presidency of Prof. Albert van der Heide. In 2006, the eighth Congress was held in Moscow under the presidency of the late Prof. Rashid Kaplanov. Now we are opening the ninth Congress, celebrated for the first time in Italy in Ravenna, 25– 29 July 2010. I am very glad to welcome the EAJS Congress in the Peninsula which played a central role in the development and in the diffusion of Judaism in Europe and in the Western World. Our ninth Congress bears the title Judaism in the Mediterranean Context and there is not a bet- ter point of view to observe the Mediterranean context than Italy, the centre of the Yam ha- Tikkon, which was the theatre of western culture since the ancient times. Actually the Italian Peninsula is located in the heart of the Mediterranean and, due to its slim elongated shape and its geographical position, Italy was a natural bridge between Orient and Occident, Middle East and Central Europe. In the southern regions of Italy the first Jews of Europe arrived and set- tled there even before the beginning of the Common Era in the oldest Jewish communities in the West: in Rome, Apulia and Sicily. 3 After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE in the Western Diaspora there was a period called the Dark Ages, when the Hebrew language survived only for prayer and as a literary language, but disappeared as an actively spoken language for nearly seven centuries. It was during the eighth century in sepulchral inscriptions in the Jewish Catacombs of Venosa that it revived again. Puglia, with its centers of Bari, Trani and Otranto, was the place to which the cultural and spiritual legacy of Judaism in the field of liturgy, the Bible, Mishnah and Talmud, as well as the Halakhah was transmitted directly from Palestine. It flourished in the rabbinic acade- mies of southern Italy, where Isaiah di Trani the Elder and his nephew Isaiah di Trani the Younger, worked. From there the precious Jewish heritage spread to Western Ashkenazi re- gions, particularly in the North of France, where Rabbi Jacob ben Meir in the twelfth century recalls that the spiritual heritage of Judaism arrived in northern France from southern Italian Rabbinic academies, as clearly appears from his well known paraphrases of the famous verse found in the Prophets Isaiah (2,3) and Micah (4,2): Ki mi-Tziyyon tetze’Torah u-devar Adonay mi-Yerushalayim. In fact, Rabbenu Tam, who was Rashi’s grandson, in his major work Sefer ha-Yashar presents a paraphrase of this verse For from Zion shall go forth the Torah and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem and, referring to the role played by Rabbinic academies in southern Italy, changed it in Ki mi-Bari tetze’Torah u-devar Adonay mi-Otranto. With this he wanted to point out that the word of the Lord, first released from Sion and from Jerusalem, will go forth from Puglia, Bari and Otranto, indicating that the legacy of Jewish tradition in the field of exegesis and Halakhah had arrived in northern France from rabbinical academies of Puglia which flourished in the last centuries of the first millennium CE. To give some example of this, we can consider that about half of the Jewish Cultural Her- itage, widespread all over the world in collections and Museums, comes from Italy, and the same goes for the Hebrew manuscripts held in the collections of the world. The Hebrew print- ing press was born in Italy in the sixties of the 15th century, starting from Rome, and for some years the first Hebrew incunabula were printed only in Italy. So already in the Middle ages the Rabbis created some jokes around Italian names read as if were Hebrew. For example, they read Italia as I tal Yah or “The island of the Lords dew”, or Bologna as Bo lan Yah or “In it the Lord lodges” or Mantova as Man tovah that is “A good manna”, with gender licence on the substantive man, which in Hebrew is masculine, because the joke requires tov in the feminine form tovah. Greeting you all, and wishing you a very successful Congress, I would like to continue the tra- dition of medieval Italian scholars in telling you that in these days in Ravenna “There is here a multitude”, in Hebrew Rav hennah, interpreting Rav as “a lot of people”, and not as “Rabbi”, meaning that “The Rav is here”, because I’m not sure if here in Ravenna there could be a great Rabbi indeed, but if perhaps one of you finds him, also the second interpretation is pos- sible: Ellu we-ellu divre Elohim Chayyim! Berukhim ha-ba’im le-Ravenna, u-ve-hatzlachah! Prof. Mauro Perani President of the EAJS July 2006 - July 2010. 4 Congress Venues All Congress sessions will be held at Palazzo Corradini, via Mariani 5, and at Palazzo Verdi, via Pasolini 23, Ravenna.These venues are located in the center of Ravenna. • Palazzo Corradini, Facoltà di Conservazione dei Beni Culturali via Mariani 5, Ravenna. • Palazzo Verdi via Giuseppe Pasolini 23, Ravenna. • Palazzo dei Congressi Aula Magna, Largo Firenze. 5 The Scientific Sections of the Congress and their Presidents 1. Biblical History and Archaeology: Lucio Troiani,André Lemaire 2. Biblical Literature and Language:Alessandro Catastini, Maria Teresa Ortega-Monasterio 3. Second Temple Judaism: Gabriele Boccaccini, Florentino García Martínez 4. Jews and Judaism in Late Antiquity: Cesare Colafemmina,Tessa Rajac 5. Rabbinic Litterature: Günter Stemberger,Alberdina Houtman 6. Medieval Jewish History: Shlomo Simonsohn,Alfred Haverkamp 7. Medieval Jewish Literature: Bruno Chiesa, Geoffrey Kahn 8. Manuscripts, Codices and Books: Giuliano Tamani, Judith Schlanger 9. Early Modern History (1492-1600): Pier Cesare Ioly Zorattini, Joanna Weinberg 10. Modern Jewish History:Valerio Marchetti, Irene Zwiep 11. Modern Jewish Literature: Gabriella Moscati Steindler, Helen Beer 12. Jewish Languages: Laura Minervini, Jean Baumgarten 13. Jewish Arts: Luisella Mortara Ottolenghi, Michael Berkowitz 14. Contemporary Jewish History (after 1933): Michele Sarfatti, Michal Galas 15. Jewish Philosophy: Mauro Zonta, Reiner Munk 16. Jewish Misticism, Kabbalah, Magics: Giulio Busi, Giuseppe Veltri 6 Registration Sunday, July 25, h. 14:00-19:00 Registration and Badges at Palazzo dei Congressi. Opening Ceremony and Plenary Lectures The Opening Ceremony will take place on Sunday 25 July, h. 19:00, at Aula Magna, Palazzo dei Congressi. Three Plenary Lectures will take place in Palazzo Congressi, Aula Magna July 26, h. 9:00-10:00 Martin Goodman Titus, Berenice and Agrippa: the last days of the Temple in Jerusalem. July 27, h. 9:00-10:00 Kenneth Stow Was there a Jewish Middle Ages? July 28, h. 9:00-10:00 Shlomo Simonsohn Jewish Italy:The Melting Pot of Mediterranean Jews Special meetings and events of general interest Monday, July 26 19:00 – 20:00 Meeting of the Outgoing EAJS Executive Committee, Palazzo Corradini,Aula 6. 21:30 Concert: Miriam Meghnagi (Jewish songs), Siman Tov live (Klezmer and other Jewish music) and Judith R. Cohen (Songs of the Mediterranean Sephardim), Palazzo dei Congressi,Aula magna. Tuesday, July 27 19:00 – 20:00 EAJS General Meeting and Election of the EAJS President Palazzo dei Congressi,Aula Magna. Wednesday, July 28 19:00 – 20:00 Meeting of the Incoming EAJS Executive Committee Palazzo Corradini,Aula 6.