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PhD Honors 2018/19 | Jack, Joseph & Morton Mandel School for Advanced Studies in the Humanities

PhD Honors 2018/19

Netta Amir

Dr. Netta Amir

Department of History

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Subject: The Formation of the Way of the Cross in Late-Medieval Jerusalem

Supervisors: Prof. Ronnie Ellenblum, Prof. Iris Shagrir and Prof. Reuven Amitai 

Abstract: The Way of the Cross has been one of Jerusalem’s most prominent axes for Christian worship in the past 700 years or so, at least from the Latin-Christian perspective. Although its production process finds its roots in the Crusader period, the Way of the Cross flourished and became a stable part of the pilgrimage circuit while Jerusalem was under Muslim rule, and while the Christians were limited by changing restriction of movement, worship and ownership. My dissertation deals with the formation of the Way of the Cross in Late Medieval Jerusalem.

Bio: Netta Amir is a PhD student at the History Department and a receiver of a Mandel Scholion scholarship as well as a  Rotenstreich scholarship. Her dissertation deals with the formation of the Way of the Cross in Late-Medieval Jerusalem, and it is being written under the supervision of Prof. Ronnie Ellenblum and Prof. Iris Shagrir.

Rotenstreich Stipend 2018/19

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Boaz Berger

Boaz Berger

Department of History

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Subject: The Rise of Political Responsibility in British Parliamentary Culture, 1780-1790

Supervisor: Prof. Dror Wahrman 

 Abstract: In my research I trace the emerging of a political culture of responsibility, accountability, and professionalism in 1780s Britain. Examining the ruling elite's reaction to the aftermath of the American Revolution, I wish to explore how a new political ethos helped shape the British modern state and its political sphere.

Bio: I completed my BA and MA in the department of History in The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. My main filed of study is British visual cultural and economic and political history in the long eighteenth century. My research deals with the gradual development of the modern British democratic tradition and the changing roles of the politician in that process. 

Mosse Stipend 2018/19 

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Tal Brit

Department of Art History

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Subject: Philosophia Naturalis in 14-16th century and the Representation of Nature in the Art of North Italy

Supervisor: Dr. Lola Kantor-Kazovsky

Abstract: In my research I intend to trace the Medieval taxonomy of plants, Wild Men, landscapes and texts of Philosophia Naturalis, in the visual iconography of goddess Natura: starting with theological writings and ending with the private canvases commissioned by North Italian aristocrats in the Quattrocento and the Cinquecento. The Iconongraphical interpretations of canonical canvases such as the (so called) “Venus” of Giorgione, and other mysterious females, is still vague and unidentified, in spite of the vast amount of textual and visual precedents. I will claim that the detailed geology as well as the figurative characters, are allegorical representations of Natura, and a result of a synthesis between the Medieval tradition of Philosophia Naturalis and the Humanistic culture. For each of the cosmographical components of the Medieval Philosophia Naturalis there is an essential origin in Pliny’s encyclopedic Historia Naturalis which received a new kind of attention in the Trecento. I believe it would be justified to explore the misconstrued compositions of these private canvases through that encyclopedic perspective, which seem to have been dominant in patronage culture during the Quattrocento and Cinquecento. I will use them as both the objects of research and as its focus. In addition to previous interpretations of these motifs, I believe that a further understanding of the philosophical contemplation over the relations between the creations of Man versus those of Nature would suffice a more objective understanding of these compositions. As a result, I hope it will deepen our general view of North Italian artists and their patrons.

Bio: A Phd student in the Art History department in the Hebrew University; Studying North Italian allegories and their visual representation in the Quattrocento and the Cinquecento; Teaching ancient Art and Though in the Israeli Arts and Science Academy; An avid lecturer and organizer of various courses and conferences in the scholarly arena.

Rotenstreich Scholarship 2021/22

President Stipend 2018/19

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Moishi Chechik

Department of Talmud and Halakha

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Subject: Movement and trends in Halachic ruling in 16th century Ashkenaz‏ and Poland

Supervisor: Prof. Simcha Emanuel

Abstract: The history of Halakhah in early modern Europe with cultural and social emphasis‏‏

 

President Stipend 2018/19

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Haim Cohen

Department of Cognitive Sciences

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Subject: The Flow of Associations: Similarity and Gravity

Supervisor: Prof. Anat Maril

Abstract: The purpose of this research is to describe the lows that determine the flow of our associations. My study deals with the movement of our associations in semantic space, using mathematical tools, to construct an algorithm that imitates and predicts our flow of associations. 

President Stipend 2018/19

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israel cohen

Israel J. Cohen

Department of Philosophy

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Subject:  Ontological studies of the laws of halakhah and morality

Supervisor: Dr. Aaron Segal; Prof. David Enoch 

Abstract: Pre-theoretically, we attribute different degrees of moral values to different acts. This attribution of degrees has various implications for cases of deliberation, uncertainty and additional contexts.
In my research I want to give a theoretical account abuot the phenomenon of wrongness and rightness coming in degrees: the question of whether the phenomenon exists, the relation of such degrees to the binary features of rightness and wrongness, the correct metaphysical account of the phenomenon, and an investigation of a number of questions it raises in normative ethics and in Jewish legal contexts.

Bio: I am interested in metaphysics, meta-ethics, philosophy of halakhah and the connections between these fields. My research topics are the concepts of halakhic law and moral law.

 

President Stipend 2018/19

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יוגב

Dr. Yogev Elbaz

Department of  Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

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Subject: Israel's Intervention in Lebanese Civil War (1975-1982) as a Case Study of its Policy in the Region

Supervisor: Prof. Elie Podeh, Prof. Eyal Zisser

Abstract: My dissertation will examine Israel's policy towards Lebanon from the late 60's until 1982 Lebanon War, and will especially focus in Israel's Involvement in Lebanese Civil War (from 1975). In this paper, I will analyze the following issues: the nature of the involvement; the course of events that led to the first Lebanon war; the processes and consequences of the intervention in terms of Israeli society and its influence on foreign policy; and finally, the compatibility between Israel's actions in Lebanon and its stated policy in the Middle East.   

Bio: I completed a BA in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry, and MA in Israel Studies - both in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. My Master thesis - ''Villa in the Jungle?': Israel's Involvement in Middle-Eastern Conflicts as Part of its Policy in the Region, 1949-1970' - dealt with Israel's clandestine policy in the Middle East, and focused in Israel's interventions in two Intra-Arab conflicts: Yemen’s civil war (1962-1967); and 'Black September' crisis in Jordan (1970).

Publications:

Elbaz, Yogev. "Beyond the Periphery: Israel's Intervention in the Yemen Civil War in the 1960s", Israel Studies, Under Review.

אלבז, יוגב. 'אותיות פורחות באוויר: הספר גוילי אש כמשקף ומעצב ההנצחה הישראלית בראשיתה', בתוך: ישראל גרשוני ומאיר חטינה [עורכים], עבר מתעתע: מיתוס, היסטוריה וזיכרון בחברות אסלאמיות ובחברה הישראלית (תל אביב: רסלינג, 2021), עמ' 441-397.

אלבז, יוגב. 'סיכון מחושב: מעורבות ישראל במלחמת האזרחים בירדן, ספטמבר 1970', עיונים: כתב עת רב-תחומי לחקר ישראל, גיליון 31 (2019), עמ' 181-152.

אלבז, יוגב. 'אויב אויבי הוא ידידי: מעורבות ישראל במלחמת האזרחים בתימן כחלק מהמלחמה הקרה בין ישראל למצרים, 1967-1956', היה היה, גיליון 10 (פברואר 2014), 93-71.

*אלבז, יוגב. '"כאן כדי להישאר": מעורבות איראן בסוריה, 2021-2011', עדכן אסטרטגי. נשלח לביקורת עמיתים.
 

President Stipend 2018/19

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Anabella Esperanza

Dr. Anabella Esperanza

Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

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Subject: Jewish Women's Religious and Medical Practices at the late Ottoman Empire

Supervisor: Prof. Liat Kozma

Bio: Anabella Esperanza is a MA graduate in the Department for the Study of Jewish Languages and Literatures: Ladino Studies. Her MA thesis, "Women's Writings in Judezmo (Ladino) in the Late Ottoman Empire (1871-1902): Istanbul, Salonica and Serres", examine aspects of literacy, reading and writing practices of the firsts female writers in Judezmo (Ladino) in the Late Ottoman Empire. 
Anabella is a P.h.D student under Prof. Liat Kozma's guidance.  Her research explore Jewish Women's Religious and Medical Practices in the Late Ottoman Empire in the context of the Ottoman Muslim Society. Anabella is part of Mandel School for Humanities and the ERC research group 'Regional History of Middle East Medicine'. 

President Stipend 2018/19

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Miri Fenton

Miri Fenton

Department of History of the Jewish People and Contemporary Jewry

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Subject: Everyday Life, Identity, and Communal Relations: A Comparison of Kehilot Shum and Aragon, c.1200 – 1347

Supervisor: Prof. Elisheva Baumgarten

Abstract: Using case studies, my research into medieval Jewish communal identity challenges contemporary academic use of the category of “community" as an analytical tool. Using Hebrew, Latin and vernacular sources, I explore how communal identity was built and developed through complex social processes and sets of interactions. By comparing and contrasting Jewish communities in the lands of the Crown of Aragon and in Ashkenaz, I hope to propose a new framework for how we can think of medieval Jewish communities in a theoretically nuanced way. 

Bio: Miri is writing her PhD in Medieval history, comparing and contrasting Jewish community life in the Crown of Aragon and Ashkenaz, 1100-1347. She uses social history and social theory to investigate the realities of Jewish communal life and investigate how communities were constituted by the everyday interactions and relationships. Miri holds a BA in history, and an MPhil in philosophy of religion, from the University of Cambridge. She was the Henry Fellow at Yale Graduate School 2011-12, and has spent two years learning in egalitarian yeshivot in New York and Jerusalem. She also edits academic texts in English. Under the supervision of Prof. Elisheva Baumgarten, her thesis is entitled “Everyday Life, Identity, and Communal Relations: A Comparison of Kehilot Shum and Aragon, 1100-1347.”

Publications:

“The Lives of the Dead in Medieval Ashkenaz,” in In, Out and In Between: Jewish Daily Life in medieval Europe, eds. Elisheva Baumgarten and Ido Noy (2021)

“Moving Bodies: Corpses and Communal Space in Medieval Ashkenaz,” Jewish Studies Quarterly (forthcoming, 2021).

“Absent Husbands and Lonely Wives”; Clearing Refuse in Medieval Cologne”; “Instructions to my Sons and Daughters: The Ethical Will of Eleazar, an 'Average Jew'”; “Piety Even in Death: Rabbeinu Bahya Commenting on Ashkenazi Custom”; R. Yom Tov’s Suicide”; “Remembering Pietism in Ashkenaz from Spain”; “The Attack on the Jews of York in 1190 Reported in Christian Sources”; “The Sweetness of Learning Torah”; “Using Your Wife’s Money to Pay Your Bills: Meir of Rothenburg Responsa,” in Jewish Daily Life in Medieval Northern Europe, 1000-1350: A Sourcebook (Medieval Institute, Michigan State University Press, forthcoming 2021)

Book Review, Javier Castaño, Talya Fishman, and Ephraim Kanarfogel, eds. Regional Identities and Cultures of Medieval Jews. Oxford: Liverpool University Press, 2018. 362 pp. Chiddushim, no. 21 (2019) [Hebrew].

“Hasdai Crescas, Grounds for assertions about God and the philosophical use of scripture,” Journal of Scriptural Reasoning 15 (2016).

“A dedicatory letter and its context: Beinecke MS 115,” Yale Law School Library Journal (2012).
 

Rotenstreich Stipend 2018/19

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Dr. Tal Meir Giladi

Department of Philosophy

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Subject: Hegel on Truth and Appearance 

Supervisor: Dr. Michael Roubach and Prof. Dina Emundts (Freie Universität Berin)

Abstract: In my dissertation, I propose to analyse the structure of Hegel’s first main work, Phenomenology of Spirit, in a way I believe has never been seriously perused before. The Phenomenology’s atypical structure has been usually explained as a succession of chapters termed moments, but it equally consists of two parallel series of descriptions – appearance “for consciousness” and truth “for us” (philosophers). I believe that by exploring this often-neglected aspect of the Phenomenology, I will be able to provide a more accurate understanding of Hegel’s concepts of truth and appearance. This with the aim of arguing that according to Hegel, reaching philosophical truth is a way of stabilising the empirical world of appearance.

Bio: My primary field of interest is German philosophy after Kant and its influence on 20th century as well as on contemporary philosophy. The subject of my dissertation is G.W.F. Hegel's concepts of truth and appearance as they can be understood from a study of the structure of Hegel's major work Phenomenology of Spirit. In addition, I translate philosophy from French and German and take interest in the history of philosophy in Israel. 

Publications:

“Sur le « pour nous » dans la Phénoménologie de l'Esprit. Étude de cas : Maîtrise et servitude”, Archives de Philosophie, forthcoming.

“Kenley R. Dove, Joseph Gauvin and the “for us” in Hegel's Phenomenology”, Hegel-Jahrbuch, forthcoming.

“On the Second Generation in the Department of Philosophy in the Hebrew University: between Nathan Rotenstreich and Yehoshua Bar-Hillel”, in Yfaat Weiss and Uzi Rebhun (ed.), History of the Hebrew University, 5th volume (1948-1967), Magnus Publications, forthcoming.

President Stipend 2018/19

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Keren

Keren Goldberg

Department of  Art History

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Subject: Parafiction Art in Israel and Palestine

Supervisor: Dr Noam Gal

Abstract: My research examines the phenomenon of parafiction art in Israel and Palestine in the past two decades. Parafiction art was first defined in 2009 as works of art that imitate, make believe, fake or create fictive stories, events or people, which are then grounded in the world and are experienced as facts. I would like to offer that the unique parafictional aesthetic representation, and its relation to questions of truth and belief, should be examined in light of the specific geopolitical context of its creation. Focusing on the geopolitical context of Israel and Palestine will allow me to consider the definition of parafiction art critically, to examine its validity, and to offer a typology based on case studies. Case studies include works by Public Movement, Tamir Zadok, Khalil Rabah and Khaled Jarrar, among rest, and will be read using reception theories.  

Bio: I hold an MA in Critical Writing in Art and Design from the Royal College of Art, London, and a BA in Interdisciplinary Program in the Arts and Psychology from Tel Aviv University. Currently, I am a PhD student at the Art History Department, where I research parafiction art in Israel and Palestine in the last two decades, supervised by Dr. Noam Gal. I am also an art writer and critic, and contribute regularly to various art magazines such as Erev Rav, ArtReview, Mousse, Frieze, art-agenda, ARTnews, and Art Monthly, as well as to various catalogues. I lead an art magazine reading group in Tel Aviv, and guide workshops in art writing and criticism in art schools, such as Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, Shenkar College of Engineering and Design; Ramat Gan, Faculty of Arts – Hamidrasha, Beit Berl College and Minshar School of Art, Tel Aviv. 

Publications: 

2021 – (forthcoming, accepted) “From Unaware Participants to Aware Spectators: Parafiction Art in Israel and Palestine as Case Study” (tentative title), Walking with the Enemy: Reclaiming the Language of Power and Manipulation in the Post-Truth Era, eds. Gediminas Gasparavicius, Maia Toteva and Tom Williams.

2021 – (forthcoming, awaiting publication) “The Double, the Fictional and the Critical: On the (Im)Possibility of an Ontology for the Contemporary Work of Art” (Hebrew), Bezalel Journal of Visual and Material Culture, Issue no. 7: Philosophy and The Arts, ed. Adam Aboulafia.

2015 – “The Melting Pot: Parafiction Art in Israel and Palestine”, JAWS: Journal of Arts Writing by Students, Vol. 1 No. 1.
 

President Stipend 2018/19

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Dr. Yair Hashachar

Department of Musicology

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Subject: Musical Pan-Africanism - Ideology, Aesthetics and Technology

Supervisor: Prof. Louise Bethlehem and Prof. Edwin Seroussi

Bio: Yair received his BA in Psychology and Amirim Honors Program and his MA in Cultural Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In the last four years, he was a doctoral researcher in a European Research Council project "Apartheid--The Global Imaginary: South African Cultural Formations in Transnational Circulation 1948-1990", supervised by Prof. Louise Bethlehem. His dissertation research explores interrelations between music and political thought in post-colonial Africa, focusing primarily on Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire. Drawing on methodologies from ethnomusicology, cultural history, and cultural studies, his research seeks to illuminate the role of music created in transnational spaces in discourses of nationalism, decolonization, pan-Africanism, and modernity. His research was presented in international conferences in the U.S, Germany, South Africa, Senegal, and Ghana, and was published in the journals Social Dynamics and Interventions. He has also taught at the Hebrew University (musicology department) and Ben-Gurion University (African studies) courses on popular and African music. Besides his academic activity, Yair plays the guitar and the kora (a West African harp) and performs in international stages with the group Gulaza.

Publications:

Hashachar, Yair. 2017. “Playing the Backbeat in Conakry: Miriam Makeba and the Cultural Politics of Sékou Touré’s Guinea, 1968–1986.” Social Dynamics 43 (2): 259–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2017.1364467.

Hashachar, Yair. 2018. "Guinea Unbound: Performing Pan-African Cultural Citizenship between Algiers 1969 and the Guinean National Festivals." Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369801X.2018.1508932

Rotenstreich Stipend 2018/19

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Itai Kagan

Department of Bible Studies

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Subject:  The Dynamics of Formulae in Biblical Psalms

Supervisor:  Prof. Michael Segal, Dr. Naphtali Meshel

Abstract:  I research the dynamic nature of recurring phrases (“formulae”) in the biblical Psalms. The Hebrew Psalter is a collection of religious poems written over hundreds of years. Poetic prayer in the Bible is highly formulaic, and many compositions consist primarily of traditional phrases. Like all components of language, poetic formulae undergo changes as they are repeated through the ages. Tracking the evolution of a single phrase requires meticulous comparisons of all extant examples within the tradition, including the entire Bible as well as Near-Eastern inscriptions in cognate languages. These diachronic developments often completely change the meaning of a phrase through reanalysis of its components, and they can reveal changes in culture, ideology, theology, and poetic aesthetics.

Bio: Itai Kagan has a B.A in Bible and Hebrew Linguistics from HUJI, and an M.A in Bible and in Mandel's School's Honorary Program. The focus of his research interests is the evolution of lexemes, formulae, texts and traditions in the Hebrew and general Semitic world. This includes analysis of diachronic changes in small textual units, starting from Ancient Near Eastern sources, through the Bible, Second Temple period and up to early Rabbinic material. More generally, he is interested in philological studies of Hebrew and Aramaic texts, and in Comparative Semitics.

Publications:

• "'מטעת אמת לעולם:' גלגוליו של מטבע לשון בספרות בית שני", מגילות טו (תשפ"א), עמ' 203–247
• "'ספר קללות: היומן של בייניש ברקוביץ, גטו נוֹבוֹגרוּדֶק, תש"ב–תש"ג", יד ושם: קובץ מחקרים מח (תש"ף), עמ' 59–87 (עברית), עמ' 71–107 (אנגלית)
• "האטימולוגיה של חֹק ושל חק"ק", בתוך: מ' ריז'יק (עורך), סוגיות בלשון המקרא, ירושלים תשע"ט, עמ' 278–298
• "נוסחאות חוק במגילת אסתר ובחגי ספר היובלים", מגילות יג (תשע"ז), עמ' 186–196
 

President Stipend 2018/19

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Daniel Lehmann

Department of History

Department of History

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Subject: Representations of the Reformation in the Protestant-Jewish Polemic: Intra-Christian Conflict in the "Presence" of Jews

Supervisor: Prof. Ram Ben-Shalom, Dr. Aya Elyada 

Abstract: My dissertation aims to explore the representation, or representations, of the Reformation in Protestant anti-Jewish polemics. It considers the ways in which Protestants referred or reacted to disputes with Catholics or with other Protestants while confronting Jews (confrontations imagined or real)—or, from a different angle, the ways in which Jewish contexts affected Protestant portrayals of intra-Christian conflict. Additionally, it attempts to understand how these references and reactions to the Reformation informed the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century polemic against the Jews, and bear upon its place in Adversus Judaeos history. In broader strokes, the proposed dissertation is a study of how the "presence" of Jews shaped Christian expression and thought, and of how such Christian expression and thought shaped engagement with a Jewish "presence."

The Reformation left its mark on practically every sphere of Western European life, calling much of what Christians had once taken for granted into question. That traces of the Reformation, and of Reformation conflict, in fact emerge in the anti-Jewish polemic is, therefore, hardly surprising—however, the scope and specificity, and correspondingly, impact, of this Reformation discourse still needs to be clarified. While the polemic against the Jews offered a convenient setting for validating a specific version of Christianity, for example, by attributing Jewish "errors" to other Christians, it was not necessarily the most natural grounds for a detailed discussion of Reformation issues or debates. In this sense, the focus of my research is not only a particular chapter in the history of the Christian-Jewish polemic or the unique convergence of, say, Protestant-Catholic or Lutheran-Reformed tensions and Christian-Jewish controversy, but also the Reformation itself, as refracted through a distinctly Jewish lens.
 

Bio: I completed my BA studies in the History Department, the School of History Honors Program, and the Amirim Honors Program in the Humanities; and my MA studies in the History Department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I am currently researching representations of the Reformation in the Protestant-Jewish polemic of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Publications:

"'Such an Illumination Cannot Occur': Anthonius Margaritha, the Reformation, and the Polemic against the Jews," Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 111 (2020), forthcoming.

"אפוקליפסה של משבר נוצרי: 'אלגוריה קדושה' של יאן פרובוסט כתגובה לראשית הרפורמציה", מוזה: כתב עת לתלמידי מחקר במדעי הרוח 3 (2019), 37-20.

"בין יהדות לנצרו(יו)ת, בין אתנוגרפיה לפולמוס: כתיבתו של אנטוניוס מרגריטה על הקבלה ב'האמונה היהודית כולה', היה היה: במה צעירה להיסטוריה 14 (2019), 48-29.

“Sebastian Münster and His Sources: The Messiah in Rome and the Convergence of Christian-Jewish Polemic and Intra-Christian Conflict,” Journal of Early Modern Christianity 8 (2021): 135-151.

"'Such an Illumination Cannot Occur': Anthonius Margaritha, the Reformation, and the Polemic against the Jews," Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 111 (2020): 55-77.

"אפוקליפסה של משבר נוצרי: 'אלגוריה קדושה' של יאן פרובוסט כתגובה לראשית הרפורמציה", מוזה: כתב עת לתלמידי מחקר במדעי הרוח 3 (2019): 37-20.

"בין יהדות לנצרו(יו)ת, בין אתנוגרפיה לפולמוס: כתיבתו של אנטוניוס מרגריטה על הקבלה ב'האמונה היהודית כולה', היה היה: במה צעירה להיסטוריה 14 (2019): 48-29.
 

President Stipend 2018/19

Rotenstreich Stipend 2020/21

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Elena Luchina

Department of Linguistics

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Subject: Variation in Yiddish zikh-verbs in areal perspective 

Supervisor: Prof. Moshe Taube, Dr. Eitan Grossman 

Abstract: The research lies in the field of microtypology, comparing languages of the same areal. One part of the dissertation is concerned with parallel corpora of Yiddish and Slavic and Germanic languages, while another studies variation within Yiddish dialects. 

Bio: Elena Luchina is a PhD candidate, supervised by Prof. Moshe Taube and Dr. Eitan Grossman. Her research focuses on Yiddish zikh-verbs, i.e. verbs that occur with the particle zikh 'self' (sometimes called reflexive verbs), in areal context. Her research interests include Jewish languages, heritage languages and language change. 

 

President Stipend 2018/19

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Osnat Emily Rance

Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry 

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Subject: "The Devil Spoke from Scripture" (John Chrysostom, Aversus Judaeos 6.6.8)
Sacred Violence Representations in Late Antiquity Between Jews and Christians 

Supervisor: Prof. Oded Irshai

Abstract: Late antiquity appears to be an extremely violent period, which is characterized with zeal and religious fervor, practiced by large groups of mobs. The descriptions of the events arise from chronicles and other contemporary texts indicate that the Jews, alongside other Christian groups, took part in the brawls, occasionally out of self-defense, and sometimes as promoters, while espousing violent herd behavior, by means of incitement, as well as actual violent deeds.
Recently, the phenomenon of religious violence in late antiquity has been the subject of extensive research, which stems from the delineation of these centuries (4th to 7th) as a period of unique characteristics and as a relatively young research arena, alongside research in social history phenomena and the tendency toward interdisciplinarity. Surprisingly, the place of the Jews in this context is not yet thoroughly investigated.
My research aims to reveal the position of the Jews in the social fabric of late antiquity, and especially their image as emerge from the ecclesiastic historiography of the period. Similar to the paradigm set by Joan Wallach Scott, these issues may arise from an examination of the relationship between the following three factors: the historical event, it's representation and it's acceptance and interpretation among the population. Thus, this research will move on the tension between real and imagined reality while discussing the outcomes of both.

Bio: BA at the Department of Hebrew Literature and the Department of Jewish History, Ben-Gurion University, cum laude. During my studies, I chose to focus on liturgy and Rabbinic literature, while in history I focused on Ancient History and the Middle Ages. MA at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem at the Department of Jewish History My thesis dealt with the maintenance of the Babylonian sages' wives, while their husbands were absent in order to study Torah. As part of my graduate studies, I also participated the program of late antiquity.

President Stipend 2018/19

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Dr. Ruth Stern

Department of Hebrew Language

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Subject: The Formal Writing in Early Modern Hebrew: From Diversity to Standardization

Supervisor: Prof. Yael Reshef

Abstract: My research, focuses on the development of the formal writing in Modern Hebrew, as reflected in the letters of The Hebrew Language Committee (Vaʻad HaLashon HaʻIvrit) from the beginning of the 20th century until the thirties of this century.

Bio: Ph.D student in the Department of Hebrew Language. My current research, under the supervision of prof. Yael Reshef, focuses on the development of the formal writing in Modern Hebrew, as reflected in the letters of The Hebrew Language Committee (Vaʻad HaLashon HaʻIvrit) from the beginning of the 20th century until the thirties of this century.

Publications:

"איגרות הגאונים כמקור לנוסחות כתיבה המשמשות בעברית החדשה", מחקרים בלשון, יט (בהכנה).

"The Importance of Medieval Hebrew Innovations for the Study of Modern Hebrew: The Case of the Presentatives hinneni and hareni", Hebrew Studies (forthcoming ).

"'נא לשבת' ו'נא תשובתך' – על גלגוליה התחביריים והפונקציונליים של המילית 'נא'", העברית שפה חיה, ט (בדפוס).

"'השמועה הטובה ההגיעה': תווית היידוע הפותחת פסוקית זיקה נוטה בעבר", לשוננו פ (תשע"ח), עמ' 492-456.

"מגמות והתפתחויות במערכת הפועל של העברית החדשה לפי עיתוני הפועל הצעיר בשנים 1907‑1951", עבודת מוסמך בהנחיית פרופ' יעל רשף, ירושלים תשע"ו.

"The Noun ḥaluq and Its Variant Forms in Rabbinic Hebrew", Elitzur A. Bar-Asher Siegal and Aaron J. Koller (eds.), Studies in Mishnaic Hebrew and Related Fields: Proceedings of the Yale Symposium on Mishnaic Hebrew - May 2014, Jerusalem 2017, pp. 337-348.

 


 

 

President Stipend 2018/19

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Yonatan Turgeman

Department of Musicology

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Subject: 'One Proper Song, Perfect and Pure' – The Theory of the Israeli Song

Supervisor: Prof. Ruth HaCohen Pinchover, Prof. Edwin Seroussi

Abstract: My dissertation (currently titled:"'One Proper Song, Perfect and Pure' – The Theory of the Israeli Song"), advised by Prof. Ruth HaCohen Pinchover and Prof. Edwin Seroussi, is an historical inquiry of the theoretical constructions of the Israeli song. I am interested in the processes that ultimately generated the Israeli song as a unique and independent object of musicological study (in the 1940s-1960s), and how the musicology of the Israeli song relates to earlier musicological traditions that centered on the subject of Hebrew-Jewish music. The fundamental questions of my research touch upon issues of scientific approaches to of the phenomenon of song as well as the interplay between creative musical endeavors and the formation of an academic discipline.

Bio: I am a PhD candidate in the Musicology Department, and an active musician ("Avodot Afar"). My dissertation (currently titled:"'One Proper Song, Perfect and Pure' – The Theory of the Israeli Song"), advised by Prof. Ruth HaCohen Pinchover and Prof. Edwin Seroussi, is an historical inquiry of the theoretical constructions of the Israeli song. I am interested in the processes that ultimately generated the Israeli song as a unique and independent object of musicological study (in the 1940s-1960s), and how the musicology of the Israeli song relates to earlier musicological traditions that centered on the subject of Hebrew-Jewish music. The fundamental questions of my research touch upon issues of scientific approaches to of the phenomenon of song as well as the interplay between creative musical endeavors and the formation of an academic discipline. My book, "The Bridge is Dead: A Theory & Short History of Everyday Songs in Hebrew", was published in 2017 (Hakibbutz Hameuchad).

Publications: 

'הגשר מת: תיאוריה והיסטוריה קצרה של שירים יומיומיים בעברית', הקיבוץ המאוחד (קו אדום אמנות), 2017

President Stipend 2018/19

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MIKA

Micka Ullman

Department of Archaeology and ancient near east

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Subject: Human selection and exploitation patterns of complex karstic caves during the later prehistory of the southern Levant

Supervisor: Dr. Uri Davidovich, Prof. Amos Frumkin

Abstract: From the dawn of prehistory, humans made use of natural caves for various purposes. In the southern Levant, occupation of caves began during the mid-Lower Paleolithic (ca. 600 ka) and increased during the Middle Paleolithic (ca. 250-50 ka). Paleolithic selection preferences of cave sites focused on large, spacious, well-lit and ventilated chambers with large openings. Groups of gatherers-hunters used those sites for a range of domestic activities, such as daily group gatherings, food preparation and consumption, and tool making. At times, the same sites were also used for mortuary purposes, probably in between occupation phases.     
During the Pottery Neolithic period (from ca. 6,500 BCE onward), as a result of the revolutionary changes associated with the transition to sedentary ways of life and food production (agriculture and animal husbandry), a shift can be observed in cave use patterns. Alongside a continuation in exploiting large, relatively open chambers, for the first time humans began to penetrate into deep and complex caves, which are difficult to negotiate through, challenging for orientation and navigation, completely dark and damp, and often presenting a variety of remarkable natural phenomena, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Preliminary study of the archaeological finds from several complex caves in the southern Levant indicates that during certain time-spans within the 7th-3rd millennia BCE (spanning the Pottery Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age periods), the depths of complex karstic caves were used for multiple activities, at least some of which are related to ritual and burial.      
The present research revolves around the interactions between humans and their natural landscape during the emergence of early complex societies, as can be deciphered from the study of human exploitation patterns of complex karstic caves. Karstic caves are abundant in most highland regions of the southern Levant, and dozens of them reach a total length exceeding 300 m. Many of these caves were recently explored by the Israeli Cave Research Center (ICRC), Institute of Earth Sciences, the Hebrew University, and archaeological finds from the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age periods surfaced in numerous such caves, however these are yet to be thoroughly studied. The present research will focus on the comparative analysis of cave use patterns from the aforementioned periods, including regional distribution of complex caves, spatial distribution of artifacts and ecofacts within them, and analysis of material culture remains and their context of deposition. In addition, the environmental aspects of the caves and their surrounding landscape will be explored, and Holocene geological and geomorphological processes inside the caves will be inspected. This will allow discussing human selection and exploitation patterns of complex caves during the late prehistory, at the time of emergence of complex societies, as well as detecting trends of continuity and change in these patterns. The uniqueness of this research is drawn from its focus on the remains of ancient human activities that took place outside the settlement sites, and the possibility to shed light on least-known aspects of social interactions and worldviews.

Bio: I was born and raised at Kibbutz Bar-Am in the Upper Galilee.  After my military service I began hiking and trekking, both in Israel and abroad, with clear preference for the mountains and deserts. The love of nature and outdoors evolved into academic studies of archaeology and geography, which took place at the Hebrew University. During my bachelor’s and master’s degrees I specialized in prehistory studies at the Archaeological Institute of Mount Scopus, and about a decade ago I joined the Israeli Cave Research Center, located at the same academic institution. In the past decade year I participated in tens of cave-mapping and cave-research (speleology) projects, often involving significant archaeological aspects. Caving gradually became my major occupation and hobby. These days I work as an archaeologist: conducting excavations, field surveys and academic research. Between projects and excavations, I keep on traveling and exploring the outdoors. 

Publications:

English Publications

Articles in Refereed Journals

  • Ekshtain R., Barzilai O., Inbar M., Milevski I., and Ullman M. (2012). "Givat Rabi East, a new Middle Paleolithic knapping site in the Lower Galilee (Israel)". Paléorient 37(2): 107-122.
  • Davidovich U., Ullman M., and Leibner U. )2013(. "Late Prehistoric occurrences in Har Nitai and Khirbat Wadi Hamam, Northeastern Lower Galilee". Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society 43: 186-204.
  • Frumkin A., Bar-Matthews M., Davidovich U., Langford B., Porat R., Ullman M., and Zissu B. (2014).  "In-situ dating of ancient quarries and the source of flowstone (‘calcite-alabaster’) artifacts in the southern Levant". Journal of Archaeological Science 41: 749-758.
  • Yahalom-Mack N., Langgut D., Dvir O., Tirosh O., Eliyahu-Behar A., Erel Y., Langford B., Frumkin A., Ullman M., and Davidovich U. (2015). “The earliest lead object in the Levant”. PLOS ONE 10 (12): e0142948. https://doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0142948
  • Marder O., Ashkenazy H., Frumkin A., Grosman L., Langford B., Sharon G., Ullman M., Yeshurun R., and Peleg Y. (2015). “El-Hamam Cave: A New Natufian Site in the Samaria Hills”. Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society 45: 131–142.
  • Frumkin A., Langford B., Marder O., and Ullman M. (2016). “Paleolithic caves and hillslope processes in south-western Samaria, Israel: Environmental and archaeological implications”. Quaternary International 398: 246-258.
  • Langgut D., Yahalom-Mack N., Lev-Yadun S., Kremer E., Ullman M., and Davidovich U. (2016). “The earliest Near Eastern wooden spinning implements”. Antiquity 90(352): 973-990.
  • Langgut D., Yahalom-Mack N., Lev-Yadun S., Kremer E., Ullman M., and Davidovich, U. (2017). “On Chalcolithic maceheads and spinning implements”. Antiquity 91(357): 777-782.
  • Toffolo M.B., Ullman M., Caracuta V., Weiner S., and Boaretto E. (2017). “A 10,400-year-old sunken lime kiln from the Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B at the Nesher-Ramla quarry (el-Khirbe), Israel”. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 14: 353-364.
  • Davidovich U., Ullman M., Langford B., Frumkin A., Langgut D., Yahalom-Mack N., Abramov J., and Marom N. (2018). “Distancing the dead: Late Chalcolithic burials in large maze caves in the Negev Desert, Israel”. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 379: 113-152.
  • Frumkin A., Aharon S., Davidovich U., Langford B., Negev Y., Ullman M., Vaks A., Ya‘aran S., and Zissu B. (2018). "Old and recent processes in a warm and humid desert hypogene cave: ‘A’rak Na ‘asane, Israel". International Journal of Speleology 47 (3), 307-321. Tampa, FL (USA) ISSN 0392-6672. https://doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.47.3.2178
  • Frumkin A., Barzilai O., Hershkovitz I., Ullman M., and Marder O. (2019). “Karst terrain in the western upper Galilee, Israel: Speleogenesis, hydrogeology and human preference of Manot Cave”. Journal of Human Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.05.006
  • Ekshtain R., Malinsky-Buller A., Greenbaum N., Mitki N., Stahlschmidt C.M., Shahack-Gross R., Nir N., Porat N., Bar-Yosef Mayer E.D., Yeshurun R., Been E., Rak Y., Agha N., Brailovsky L., Krakovsky M., Spivak P., Ullman M., Vered A., Barzilai O., and Hovers E. (2019). “Persistent Neanderthal occupation of the Open-air site of ‘Ein Qashish, Israel”. PLoS One. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0215668
  • Ullman M., Brailovsky L., Schechter C.H.,  Weissbrod L, Zuckerman-Cooper R., Toffolo B.M., Caracuta V., Boaretto E., Weiner S, Abramov J.,, Bar-Yosef Mayer E.D., Avrutis W.V, Kol-Ya‘kov S., and Frumkin A. (2021). “The Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site at Nesher-Ramla Quarry, Israel”. Quaternary international, Nesher-Ramla special Issue. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.04.019
  • Lazagabaster I.A., Ullman M., Porat R., Halevi R., Porat N., Davidovich, U. and Marom N. (2021). “Changes in the large carnivore community structure of the Judean Desert in connection to Holocene human settlement dynamics”. Scientific reports, 11(1): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.04.019
  • *Lazagabaster A.I., Rovelli V., Fabre P.H., Porat R., Ullman M., Davidovich U., Lavi T., Ganor A., Klein E., Weiss K., Nuriel P., Meiri M., and Marom N. (2021). “Rare crested rat subfossils unveil Afro–Eurasian ecological corridors synchronous with early human dispersals”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 118.  https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2105719118
  • *Dvir R., Ullman M., Langford B., Frumkin A., Porat R., and Zissu B. (2021). “Finds from the Bar-Kokhba Revolt on the Cliffsides of Wadi Chariton (Naḥal Teqoa)”. Israel Exploration Journal 71(2): 204-223.
     

Books

  • Ullman M. (2020). “The Early Pre-Pottery B Neolithic site at Nesher-Ramla Quarry (NRQN), Israel”. The Zinman Institute of Archeology, University of Haifa.

Chapters in books

  • Hovers E., Ullman M., and Rak Y. (2017). “Palaeolithic Occupations in Nahal Amud”. In: Enzel Y., and Bar-Yosef O. (eds), Quaternary of the Levant - Environments, Climate Change, and Humans. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Pp. 255-266.
  • Ullman M. (2020). “Chapter six - The groundstone assemblage”. In: M. Ullman (ed), The Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site at Nesher-Ramla Quarry (NRQN), Israel. Jerusalem. Pp. 75-112
  • Ullman M., and Brailovsky L. (2020). “Chapter five - The flint assemblage”. In M. Ullman (ed), The Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site at Nesher-Ramla Quarry (NRQN), Israel. Jerusalem. Pp. 37-74.
  • Frumkin A., and Ullman M. (2020). “Chapter two - The geology of an early Holocene sinkhole (NRQN) associated with hydrothermal karst, Israel”. In: M. Ullman (ed), The Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site at Nesher-Ramla Quarry (NRQN), Israel. Jerusalem. Pp. 9-16.

Conference Proceedings

  • Ullman M., Hovers E., Goren-Inbar N., and Frumkin A. )2013(. “Levantine cave dwellers: geographic and environmental aspects of early human use of caves, case study from Wadi Amud, northern Israel”. Proceedings of 16th International Congress of Speleology. Vol. 1: 169-174, Brno.
  • Sukenik N, Ulanowska A., Goshen N., Porat R., Klein E., Ganor A., Ullman M., and Davidovich U. (2020). “A New South Levantine Chalcolithic Tool and Its Possible Relations to Textile Manufacture. Redefining Ancient Textile Handcraft Structures, Tools and Production Processes”. Proceedings of the VIIth International Symposium on Textiles and Dyes in the Ancient Mediterranean World. Pp. 499-511. Granada.

Other publications

  • Klein E., Davidovich U., Porat R., Ganor A. and Ullman M. (2017). In the Cave of the Skulls – Again. Biblical Archaeology Review 43 (4): 18-19, 57.

Hebrew Publications

Books

  • Davidovich U., Frumkin A., Langford B., Lisker S., Porat R., Ullman M. (edited by Frumkin A.) (2015). Holey Land Atlas: Judean Desert Caves. The Hebrew University, Magnes Press, Jerusalem (in Hebrew).

Conference Proceedings

  • Porat R., Amit D., Frumkin A., Ullman M., and Langford B. (2019). “The caves of Wadi Charitun (Nahal Tqoa)”. Studies on the land of Judea: Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Conference in Memory of Dr. David Amit. Pp. 9-32 (in Hebrew).
  • Ullman M. and Davidovich U. (2019). “Keep the Dead at a Distance: Burials in the Depth of Complex Chalcolithic Caves in the Northern Negev”. In: D. Varga, Y. Abadi-Reiss, G. Lehmann, and D. Vainstub (eds). Worship and Burial in the Shfela and Negev Regions throughout the ages. Proceedings of the 15th Annual Joint Conference the Department of Bible, Archaeology and the Ancient Near East Studies at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and The Southern Regional Office of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Pp. 29-50 (in Hebrew).
  • Klein E., Ganor A., Porat R., Ullman M., Sukenik N., and Davidovich U. (2020). “A renewed excavation in the “Large Cave Complex” in Nahal Ze’elim in the Judean Desert”. In: Y. Abadi-Reiss, D. Varga and G. Lehmann (eds). Desert Archaeology. Proceedings of the 16th Annual Joint Conference the Department of Bible, Archaeology and the Ancient Near East Studies at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and The Southern Regional Office of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Pp. 33-56 (in Hebrew).

Other publications

  • Klein E., Sion O., Cohen C., and Ullman M. (2020). “Enot Qumeran (West): Preliminary Results”. Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel 132 (in Hebrew).
  • Langford B., Davidovich U., Ullman M., and Amos F. (2021). “The caves of Nahal Hever”. Niqrot Zurim – Journal of the Israeli Cave Research Centre (ICRC) 21: 109-135.
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President Stipend 2018/19

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