The conference fee is $695 and includes all seminars below. You may take every class — i.e., there will be no overlap as only one
class will be going on at any one time. Classes only take place when
we’re at sea, between 8:30am and 7:30pm.
More than 3000 years ago a small group of desert nomads arrived in the land of Canaan and created a radical new understanding of life, history, and the divine. Join us as Dr. Gary Rendsburg weaves together the history of ancient Israel, the modes of writing in the Bible, and the theological factors that led to the development of monotheism.
Speaker: Gary Rendsburg, Ph.D.
How did Israel begin? The Bible presents its own narrative, with a group of people migrating from Canaan to Egypt to escape famine; then becoming enslaved in Egypt, put to work in major building projects; and then finally leaving Egypt, wandering the Sinai Desert, and returning to its ancestral home. What answers does archaeology contribute to this question? We’ll survey a host of archaeological data and written remains from both Egypt and Israel to arrive at a picture which is sometimes consistent, and other times at odds, with the biblical narrative. And this lecture is the place to dig into the question: Was there an Exodus from Egypt? Come away with current archaeological thought on the origin of Israel, and get new questions to puzzle over!
Speaker: Gary Rendsburg, Ph.D.
Join Dr. Rendsburg in a look at the Bible’s most famous narrative: the story of the birth of Moses, the Ten Plagues, and Exodus from Egypt, recorded in Exodus 1-15. Instead of focusing on the question of whether or not the Exodus occurred (a perennial topic if ever there was one), we’ll explore how the biblical text interfaces with Egyptian cultural and religious beliefs at every turn. Parallel stories from Egyptian literature about the baby in the bulrushes, the secret name of the deity, the Nile turning to blood, a three-day darkness, and the splitting of the waters will provide plenty of fodder for a look at the Exodus story through the prism of ancient Egypt. Food for thought.
Speaker: Gary Rendsburg, Ph.D.
Shift gears in this lecture, moving from the realm of history to the domain of literature. We will undertake a literary analysis of a well-known biblical story, using a close reading of the David and Bathsheba episode to demonstrate the panoply of literary devices used by the biblical authors in their crafting of exquisite prose narrative. While the biblical tales do not comprise the earliest prose in the world (that honor goes to ancient Egypt), we will show how the ancient Israelite literati elevated the genre to new heights, incorporating within their compositions the literary devices and theological imperative at every turn.
Speaker: Gary Rendsburg, Ph.D.
Leviticus is by far the least read and certainly the least understood of the five books of the Torah (Pentateuch). And yet some of the most significant theological lessons presented by the ancient Israelite authors are revealed within its finely crafted chapters. With Dr. Rendsburg, we will take a look at such subjects as sacrifice, the priesthood, and ritual purity — aspects of Judaism with a decreased significance during the last two thousand years. By recreating the world of ancient Israel and its worship of the single God, however, we will gain an understanding of both the original setting of these features and the contemporary significance of the abiding theological messages represented.
Speaker: Peter Haas, Ph.D.
Jewish life in the New World began at the end of the fifteenth century, with the successive expulsions of Jews from Spain and Portugal, and the creation of "the second diaspora." The promise of a new life based in religious and economic freedom drew Jewish settlers to the Caribbean and South America, and onward to colonial America. By the middle of the seventeenth century, there were several thousand Jews living in a number of communities in the great ports of the Caribbean and South America. These immigrants forged trade routes between Europe and the New World, formed vibrant communities, and founded the first Jewish communal presence in North America in New Amsterdam in 1654. Join Dr. Haas for a survey of the history and way of life of this once flourishing sub-culture of the colonial Caribbean.
Speaker: Peter Haas, Ph.D.
Since antiquity Jews have played an important role in medicine. As a result, the Jewish tradition includes a rich and varied tradition of medical ethics. We live in a time of increasingly rapid advances in medical and biomechanical sciences. How can a look back at the collective wisdom of the Jewish medical experience help us frame the healthcare opportunities and dilemmas we may face? Dr. Haas will look at the Jewish medical ethical tradition to find insights into how to draw moral boundaries to the vexing medical possibilities of the twenty-first century from genetics to organ transplants to euthanasia to the very definition of death.
Speaker: Peter Haas, Ph.D.
The heavens have always been a subject of religious fascination. Through close observation of the movement of the stars and planets we can determine time, fix the seasons, and navigate without landmarks. The heavens were also understood to tell us about the powers and mysteries of the divine. This course will give you a quick introduction to how the Western religions have understood the heavens and have tried to make sense of its order and disorder. We will look at the classical understanding of the cosmos coming out of Roman science; the religious implications of the “Copernican Revolution;” and the calendrical issues that divide Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Speaker: Peter Haas, Ph.D.
Philosophical, historical, and practical questions abound about the Middle East: Why is there such political instability in the region? What is the role of religion (Sunni/Shi’a Islam, Judaism, Christianity)? How did the modern map of the Middle East come about? What are the differences between Hamas, Fatah, Hezbollah, al-Qaida, etc?
Get an expert’s view of the various religious and political conflicts that are going on in the Middle East today. Our discussion begins with the period after World War I, when the Ottoman Empire collapsed and the current states in the region were created. We’ll move forward to such topics as the Israeli/Palestinian conflict; the Iranian revolution and the war in Iraq. Bring a more nuanced worldview to your contemplation of current events and policy in the Middle East.
Speaker: Peter Haas, Ph.D.
Whether it’s a question of making the world a better place for all who come after us, or a specific tikkun olam orientation, it’s helpful to understand the religious commonalities, differences, and rules of the road of fellow citizens of the world. Dr. Haas will guide us through the three great monotheistic religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam to enhance their understanding in your worldview.
Starting with a look at the religion of biblical Israel, we’ll trace the broad development of these faith traditions and examine the basic points of agreement and disagreement among them. Gain a clear picture of the origins of each religion; the central theological concepts of each and how they compare; relationships between the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran; and the organization of religious authority in Christian, Islamic, and Jewish spheres. Satisfy your curiosity about the origins of the religious traditions that have a profound impact on our world.
Join Dr. David Ruderman as he leads us through the drama of Jewish history in the Diaspora. We’re in quest of answers to two perplexing questions:
To answer these BIG questions, we need to answer several other questions first. For our study, the backdrop will be the four centers of Jewish life in Cordova (Spain), Prague (the Czech Republic), Venice (Italy), and Amsterdam (The Netherlands):
Dr. Ruderman answer all of these questions, and more, as he guides us through the social, economic, political, cultural, and intellectual environments in these four cities. Our intellectual itinerary will explore the historical contexts and lead us to an appreciation of the new routes of philosophical inquiry and religious spirituality which were forged in them.
Speaker: David Ruderman, Ph.D.
The 10th and 11th centuries in Cordova were a time of rapid evolution in Jewish intellectual and cultural life. Dynamic politics made an Islamic-Jewish Cordovan cultural symbiosis possible. In this setting, Yehudah ha-Levi and Moses Maimonides offered differing perceptions of the relationship between faith and reason and the need to rethink Judaism in the context of the surrounding intellectual climate.
Speaker: David Ruderman, Ph.D.
Under the reign of Rudolph II in the late 16th century, the Jewish community experienced an unprecedented period of cultual effloresence and inter-faith dialogue in early modern Europe. In this climate, Rabbi Judah Loew was the spiritual leader of the Jewish community and is said to have created a golem, a fantastic symbol of the power of Jewish magic and mysticism with which he was associated. Rabbi Loew and his disciples fashioned a dynamic world of mysticism, science, and social engagement unique to Jewish history.
Speaker: David Ruderman, Ph.D.
The geography of Venice made it a natural meeting place for ideas from both Europe and the Islamic world. Waves of immigrants from Greece, Northern Europe, and Iberia brought new ideas and the medium through which to diffuse them — the printing press. Venice was the European center of printing and a hub for the publication of knowledge in the 15th through 17th centuries. The nearby University of Padua, a major university near Venice, was the first to admit Jewish students en masse to the study of medicine, training hundreds of doctors. Padua’s university played an important role in shaping the religious and cultural sensibilities of Jews in Venice as well contributing to the creation of an international medical community. The intellectual energy and publishing tradition in Venice made it a setting in which science could influence Jewish thought in the early modern period. The resulting exchange, expansion, and publication of ideas led to the tradition of Jewish secular studies and the emergence of early modern Jewish culture.
Speaker: David Ruderman, Ph.D.
Amsterdam emerged in the 17th century as the hub of the Converso Diaspora, a haven for new Christians to reclaim their Jewish faith after centuries of persecution and discrimination by the Inquisition and Iberian society. The philosopher Benedict (Baruch) Spinoza flourished in this environment of “born again” Jews and constructive Jewish-Christian relations. In Amsterdam’s milieu, Spinoza examined the tension between traditional Jewish communal values and secular liberal values, and a modern secular Jewish community arose.
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