FEBRUARY E-NEWS

In this month’s newsletter, we celebrate the accomplishments of National Jewish Book Award recipients and welcome exciting new library acquisitions. We also highlight upcoming events—in and out of our public program series—and a special blog post honoring the memory of an extraordinary writer. Read on to learn more and follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with our news and announcements as they happen.

NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARDS

Katz Center director Steve Weitzman and a number of past fellows and affiliated scholars were recognized in the Jewish Book Council’s 2017 National Jewish Book Awards. Ranging from the Jewish Education and Identity category to the Writing Based on Archival Material category, the awards showcase the varied areas of expertise of the winning Katz Center scholars. Click here to read the Penn Current’s coverage of Weitzman’s win and here to see the full list of Center winners, finalists, and their texts.

LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS

The Library at the Katz Center has just acquired ten beautifully illustrated ketubbot (marriage contracts) originating from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. While some of these documents date back to 1862, they are in excellent condition, highlighting the personal details of the married couples and depicting the artistic styles of the places where they originated. Read more about these new materials on the Katz Center blog.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

On February 27th, Professor Alessandro Guetta (Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales, Paris) will be delivering the 2016–2017 Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies & Herbert D. Katz Center Distinguished Fellow’s Lecture in Jewish Manuscript Studies. The talk will examine the significance of the 16th-century phenomenon of the translation of Hebrew texts into Tuscan, the literary language of Italy. Registration is appreciated.

The spring public program series continues this month with a talk by Katz Center fellow Yitzhaq Feder (University of Haifa). Click here to see the full lineup of programming in the series and to register for events focusing on nature and science in Jewish culture.

JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW

Aharon Appelfeld, one of the most important authors of the twentieth century and a founder of Israeli literature, passed away in January. In a blog post, past fellow Nili Gold (2004–2005) reflects on Appelfeld’s influential work as well as his visit to Penn in 2011 and the JQR forum that resulted from it. Click here to read Gold’s post about Appelfeld and here to see the JQR forum.

SUMMER SCHOOL APPLICATIONS

Applications for this summer’s Advanced Summer School are still open. The year’s theme is “Out of This World: The Supernatural in Jewish History and Culture” and is devoted to the magical, the miraculous, and the monstrous. The week-long immersive experience will take place in Philadelphia in late June. Click here to learn more and apply.

Help ensure that the Katz Center will continue to serve as a laboratory for curiosity-driven research. Your support will enable us to expand the study and knowledge of Jewish civilization in a global context and propel the field of Judaic studies into the twenty-first century and beyond.

Support the Katz Center

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