Conference Program
Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) is recognized by Jews and Christians as an authoritative voice for biblical Judaism in the United States. This centenary conference explores major areas of Heschel's life and works and recognizes the publication of the first intellectual and cultural biography of Heschel by Edward K. Kaplan of Brandeis University.
Leading scholars and activists will explore how Heschel made original contributions to the fields of Bible, Talmud, Hasidism, religious education, and more. Both traditional and progressive, Heschel's religious philosophy and his social activism were inspired by Hasidism and the Hebrew prophets. As a charismatic and controversial public figure, he was revered by Christians and Jews as an ally of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the civil rights movement, for his action for Soviet Jewry, the Second Vatican Council, and the religious movement against the Vietnam war.
1:30PM - Hassenfeld Conference Center
Registration
2:00PM - Sherman Hall (Hassenfeld Conference Center)
Welcoming Remarks: Edward Kaplan, Organizer
2:15PM - Sherman Hall (Hassenfeld Conference Center)
Opening address: Susannah Heschel, Dartmouth College (read abstract)
3:00PM-5:00PM - Sherman Hall (Hassenfeld Conference Center)
Roundtable Discussion: “No Religion is an Island”: Religious Pluralism and Interfaith Dialogue
Aisha Y. Musa, Florida International University (read abstract)
Mary Boys, Union Theological Seminary (read abstract)
Vincent Harding, Illif School of Theology
Philip Cunningham, Boston College (read abstract)
moderator: Or Rose, Brandeis University and Hebrew College
5:30PM - Faculty Club
Coctail Reception
6:15PM - Faculty Club
Dinner and keynote address: The Heschel Century in America
Introduction and Tributes to Samuel Dresner, Fritz Rothschild, and Sylvia Heschel: Edward Kaplan, Brandeis University
Welcoming Remarks: Marty Wyngaarden Krauss, Provost of Brandeis University
A Reading of Heschel’s Yiddish Poetry: Morton Leifman, Jewish Theological Seminary
Keynote address:
Arnold Eisen, Stanford University, chancellor-elect, Jewish Theological Seminary (read abstract)
8:30PM - Faculty Club
Film presentation:
Steve Brand, documentary film: “Praying With My Legs” (read abstract)
8:30AM - Hassenfeld Conference Center
Registration
9:00AM - Sherman Hall (Hassenfeld Conference Center)
Welcoming Remarks: Edward Kaplan, Organizer
9:15AM-10:45AM - Sherman Hall (Hassenfeld Conference Center)
Plenary Address I: Heschel as model for progressive movements
Michael Lerner, Editor Tikkun magazine (read abstract)
responses: Len Saxe (read abstract), Gordon Fellman, Brandeis University
11:00AM-2:00PM - Lobby (Hassenfeld Conference Center)
Book Sale
11:00AM-12:15PM - Lurias (Hassenfeld Conference Center)
Concurrent Session 1: Education of the Spirit
Joseph Reimer, Brandeis University (read abstract)
Peter Geffen, Founder, Heschel School, New York (read abstract)
Barry Shrage, President, CJP, Greater Boston (read abstract)
moderator: Sharon Feiman-Nemser, Brandeis University
11:00AM-12:15PM - Levine Ross (Hassenfeld Conference Center)
Concurrent Session 2: Modernity and Rabbinic Pluralism
paper: Gordon Tucker, Temple Israel Center and Jewish Theological Seminary (read abstract)
respondent: Reuven Kimelman, Brandeis University (read abstract)
12:30PM-1:45PM - Sherman Hall (Hassenfeld Conference Center)
Lunch: The Heschel biography
Jonathan Sarna, Brandeis University
Steven Zipperstein, Stanford University
response: Edward Kaplan, Brandeis University
2:00PM-3:30PM - Sherman Hall (Hassenfeld Conference Center)
Plenary Address II: Heschel’s Hasidism and Mysticism
Moshe Idel, Hebrew University, Jerusalem (read abstract)
respondent: Arthur Green, Hebrew College (read abstract)
moderator: Paolo Gamberini, Pontifica Facolta Teologica dell'Italia Meridionale
3:30PM-5:15PM - Sherman Hall (Hassenfeld Conference Center)
Plenary Address III: Holiness and Moral Integrity
David Novak, University of Toronto (read abstract)
respondent: Eugene Sheppard, Brandeis University
moderator: Gianluca Giannini, University of Naples
5:30PM-6:00PM - Sherman Hall (Hassenfeld Conference Center)
Wrap up discussion: Heschel for the Future
Shaul Magid, Indiana University (read abstract)
and other participants