Presented by Professor Michal Bar-Asher Siegal
Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought and Vice President for Global Engagement, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU)
Join us to explore the complexities and nuances of a complicated narrative, delving into what it reveals about the interactions between Jews and Christians during Talmudic times. This Babylonian Talmudic story of Heruta and Rabbi Hiyya bar Ashi’s marriage has attracted the attention of many scholars, notably because of its depiction of the unusual relationship between the rabbi and his wife.
By examining the cultural, religious, and social dynamics at play, we will uncover the broader implications of this story and gain a deeper understanding of Jewish-Christian relations as reflected in the Talmud. Join us!
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Barring technical issues, this talk will be recorded and posted on our Program Recording Archive.
Thank you to Edie and Art Hessel for sponsoring this lecture.
Professor Michal Bar-Asher Siegal is a faculty member at the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev as well as the University’s Vice President for Global Engagement. Her work focuses on aspects of Jewish-Christian interactions in the ancient world and compares early Christian and rabbinic sources. She was an elected member of the Israel Young Academy of Sciences and served as visiting professor at both Harvard Law School and Yale University. Her first book is Early Christian Monastic Literature and the Babylonian Talmud (Cambridge University Press, 2013; winner of the 2014 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award). Her second book is Jewish-Christian Dialogues on Scripture
in Late Antiquity: Heretic Narratives of the Babylonian Talmud (Cambridge University Press, 2019), a National Jewish Book Award finalist.
This program is in partnership with Americans for Ben-Gurion University.
We extend a special thank you to Andrew R. Ammerman for sponsoring our Fall 2024 program lineup. He dedicates the semester’s learning in loving memory of Josephine and H. Max Ammerman and Stephen C.