Canadian Society for Jewish Studies Annual Conference
Conférence annuelle de la Société canadienne des études juives
Online, Sunday May 2 through Friday May 7, 2021
The 16th Annual Conference of the Canadian Society for Jewish Studies (CSJS) will take place on line from Sunday May 2 through Friday May 7, 2021.
All times are Eastern Time (Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal/New York). Remember to adjust for your location. All odd-
numbered panels are 10-11:30 am Eastern; the other panels are at various afternoon and evening times. Zoom links
will be provided at a later date.
Panels with times, participants, and paper titles
Panel 1: Jews and Antisemites
Sunday May 2, 10-11:30am
Eyal Davidson: The Yellow Star in Jerusalem—Discriminatory Decrees against Jews in the Late 16th Century
Pedro Réquio: The Dreyfus affair in Portugal—The perspectives of O Século and A Nação (1894-1889)
Galit Haddad: French-Jewish POWs in German captivity (1940-1945)
Panel 2: Teaching and learning the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Israel
Sunday May 2, 2-3 pm
Rudy Kisler: Learning how to conquer a mountain: History education at the Ha’castel national heritage site, Jerusalem
Roy Weintraub: Teaching the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Case Study for Jewish Religious-Secular Historical
Controversies in Israel
Theatre: A Zoom-performed teleplay Sunday May 2, 7-8:30pm
Benjamin Rubin (playwright/director): Golden Age Travel IV—North End 1924
Panel 3: Times of Crisis
Monday May 3, 10-11:30 am
Mayer Gruber: Starvation and Pellagra in Lamentations
Lilach Ben Zvi: This horrible question of our days -The Jewish State in Yeshayahu Leibowitz's Thought
Levi Cooper: Kaddish during COVID: Mourning Practices during a Pandemic
Panel 4: Changes and Challenges in Halakhah
Monday May 3, 1 – 2:30 pm
Simcha Fishbane: Yartzheit: Rituals for the Living or the Dead?
Ellie Ash: Partnership Minyans: The institutionalization of a new Jewish liturgical convention
Betina Appel Kuzmarov and Deidre Butler: Warning Labels: Rabbinic Stories of Canadian Divorce
Panel 5: Challenges to Rabbinic Authority
Tuesday May 4, 10-11:30 am
Brachi Elitzur: “The Lightest Ones of the World and the Greatest Ones of the World” in the Palestinian Traditions of the Mishnaic and Talmudic Periods
Laliv Clenman: Intermarriage Crises in Early Rabbinic Midrash
Itshak Cohen: The Proposed Domestic Partnership Law – Circumvention of the Religious Marriage Law
Panel 6: The Land, Jews, and “Others”, Then and Now
Tuesday May 4, 2-3:30 pm
Jonathan Bourgel: Discussing the Samaritans Status as a Reflection of Jewish-(Christian) Identity: The Samaritans in
the New Testament
Roy Shukrun: Moroccan Jewish Activism in Québec and Israel
Amir Locker-Biletzki and Jasmin Habib: Economy of Civil War and the Zionist-Palestinian Conflict
Panel 7: Buber and Others in Dialogue
Wednesday May 5, 10-11:30 am
Evyatar Varman: On Human Potential in Martin Buber & Dialogic Thought
Emma Davis: “The Domain of Life Itself”: Brit Shalom’s Apolitical Zionism
Daniel Reiser: Faith of Pi: Life of Pi in Dialogue with James, Wittgenstein, and Buber
Panel 8: Love and Sacred Space in Israeli Literature and Film
Wednesday evening May 5, 7-8:30 pm
Yael Halevi-Wise: Delayed Gratification: The Song of Songs’ Heritage in Contemporary Hebrew Fiction
Laura Wiseman: Love as Sacred Space in Sivan Har Shefi’s “Love after the Holidays” and “The Inner Sanctum”
Sara R. Horowitz: Religious Philosophy and Feminist Upheaval: Love, Doubt and Sacred Space in Rama Burstein's La‘avor et ha-Qir / Wedding Plan
Panel 9: Beit Hamidrash and Djalasa - Cross-Cultural Influences Between Islam and Judaism
Thursday May 6, 10-11:30 am
Neri Ariel: Rav Hai Gaon’s Jurisprudential Monograph KITĀB ADAB ALQAḌĀ Reconstructed from the Cairo Genizah
Mohamed Ahmed: Hidden Literature: Arabic Poetry as a Judaeo-Islamic Heritage
Ronel Atiya: The Majlis: Public Cultural Debate and Its Variants in North African Jewish Society
Panel 10: Jewish Activism
Thursday evening May 6, 7-8:30 pm
Lily Kim: Blacks, Jews, and a Shared Memory: Black Women Founders for Christian-Jewish Cooperation
Sura Anna Enkin Lewis: Jewish Environmental Organizations and Jewish Identity
Tyler Pearce: Rejoicing, Tu BiShvat, and Climate Change
Panel 11: Literature and Interpretation
Friday May 7, 10-11:30 am
Judy Barrett: “Remember the Ladies”: name matters in the Zohar
Ira Robinson: Yehuda Kaufman Even Shmuel: the Last Commentator on Moreh Nevukhim
Esti Mayer: Let’s Talk: Toward a Theory of Translation in the Study of Religion
Panel 12: Critical Perspectives on Spaces, Fame, and Friendship
Friday May 7, 1-2:30 pm
Sarah Gelbard: A Jewish lens on non-Jewish space: It’s not a Jewish problem. Or is it?
Diane Klein: The Hyperreality of Ivanka Trump’s Jewish Motherhood
Sara Sharpe: Friendship, Gender, and Jewishness: Interpersonal Connections Between Jewish Women in Montreal
Summary of panel times (Eastern Time, Canada / USA)
Panel 1 – Sunday May 2, 10-11:30 am - Jews and Antisemites
Panel 2 – Sunday May 2, 2-3 pm - Teaching and learning the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Israel
- Theatre – Sunday May 2, 7-8:30 pm - Golden Age Travel IV—North End 1924
Panel 3 – Monday May 3, 10-11:30 am - Times of Crisis
Panel 4 – Monday May 3, 1-2:30 pm - Changes and Challenges in Halakhah
Panel 5 – Tuesday May 4, 10-11:30 am - Challenges to Rabbinic Authority
Panel 6 – Tuesday May 4, 2-3:30 pm - The Land, Jews, and “Others”, Then and Now
Panel 7 – Wednesday May 5, 10-11:30 am - Buber and Others in Dialogue
Panel 8 – Wednesday May 5, 7-8:30 pm - Love and Sacred Space in Israeli Literature and Film
Panel 9 – Thursday May 6, 10-11:30 am - Beit Hamidrash and Djalasa - Cross-Cultural Influences
Between Islam & Judaism
Panel 10 – Thursday May 6, 7-8:30 pm - Jewish Activism
Panel 11 – Friday May 7, 10-11:30 am - Literature and Interpretation
Panel 12 – Friday May 7, 1-2:30 pm - Critical Perspectives on Spaces, Fame, and Friendship