Jewish Apocalypticism in the Ancient World. Transcultural Perspectives.
The conference will take place in the Excellence Cluster from September 23 - 25. It is organized by Prof. Dr. Lutz Doering and Dr. des. Florian Neitmann in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Jonathan Ben-Dov from Tel Aviv.
The proposed workshop intends to address conditions and examples of transcultural processes relative to Jewish apocalypticism. In doing so, it will look at samples of the early Jewish apocalyptic texts (Book of Watchers, Astronomical Book), the middle phase of Jewish apocalypses (Daniel, Animal Apocalypse, Apocalypse of Weeks, Book of Giants), and the later Jewish apocalypses (Similitudes of Enoch, 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, Apocalypse of John); it will also consider texts that developed into late Antiquity (Sibylline Oracles, astrological-magical texts).
The apocalyptic texts in their interaction with neighbouring paradigms will be investigated primarily at the stage of authoring. However, the stage of reception will also be considered as far as it sheds light on transcultural interaction. Case studies may include, for example, how the apocalyptic tradition relates to philosophy, cult, or poetry, how we account for ‘apocalyptic’ themes in Roman literature and how the latter are received in ancient Judaism and early Christianity.
The workshop will connect specialists on these texts with scholars working on related materials from the Ancient Near East, Egypt, and the Graeco-Roman world. The workshop brings together research teams from Israel and Germany, as well as further scholars from Europe and North America.
Discussion on the Pharisees in the Franz-Hitze-Haus on 28.10.24
On 28.10 from 18:30 Prof. Dr. Lutz Doering (Münster), Prof. Dr. Johannes Schnocks (Münster), Prof. Dr. Jens Schröter and Prof. Dr. Joseph Sievers (Rome) will debate the following topic:
"The Pharisees. Innovators of Judaism, interlocutors of Jesus and anti-Jewish cliché."
According to a Christian prejudice that is still widespread today, the Pharisees were stubborn hypocrites who gave the impression of living according to God's law, but were only concerned with their reputation. Many anti-Jewish stereotypes are still attached to corresponding interpretations of the Pharisee episodes in the Gospels. In contrast, new research tends to paint a picture of forward-looking innovators of the Jewish tradition who had many concerns in common with the early Christians. On this evening, experts from Rome, Berlin and Münster will come together to present recently published works and engage in discussion. At the end, we will consider how we can overcome the anti-Jewish distorted images associated with the Pharisees to this day.
For the programme and information on registration click here.
Three “summa cum laude” doctoral students at the IJD
In recent months, three of Professor Lutz Doering's doctoral students were able to defend their doctoral theses at the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Münster. John Dik defended his thesis on “Transformations of People-God Concepts in the Apocalypse of John and in 2 Baruch”, in which he presented a detailed comparison with Israel constitutions in the apocalyptic writings after the destruction of the temple. Jan Raithel's topic was “'An eye for an eye. A Reception History of the Biblical Talion Formula(s) in Ancient Judaism.” In his work, he discusses how the talion was interpreted and contextualized in the various contexts of ancient Judaism and also the NT. Finally, Florian Neitmann defended his submitted work entitled “The Law in 4 Ezra”, in which he explored the various nuances of the law as Torah given by Moses from a universalist, wisdom and eschatological perspective.
The very successful doctoral theses make important contributions to ancient Judaism and New Testament research and show that the promotion of young academics in Münster is progressing. The training of further young academics continues to be a central concern of Professor Lutz Doering and the University of Münster.
My year at the Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum …
The purpose of my year of fellowship (2023-2024) as a visiting scholar at the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Münster, kindly sponsored by the Heinrich Hertz-Stiftung and hosted by Prof. Lutz Doering, was to write a manuscript for a new volume on the impurity of non-Jews during the Second Temple period. This Jewish purity concept, ascribing physical impurity to the uncircumcised, formed a huge obstacle for the spread of early church to non-Jews. This explains its importance for two New Testament authors that address Christianity’s transition from a Jewish sect to a universal religion: Paul and Luke.
Alongside this research, I have taught, together with Prof. Doering, a Hauptseminar in the Sommer semester, titled “Paul and Luke-Acts on circumcision and Gentile-Impurity.” This seminar helped me organize and draft my arguments and I am thankful for this chance and for the fruitful discussion with Prof. Doering and my students. I have also lectured on this topic at the Forschungskolloquium “Neues Testament und Antikes Judentum”, here at the University of Münster, as well as at the “Englisch-Deutsches Kolloquium für Neues Testament” at the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Tübingen. In addition, I have lectured at the “Alttestamentliches Oberseminar” here at the University of Münster on “The Reception History of Deuteronomy 23:1-8 (MT 2-9),” and at the very beginning of my stay, also at the “Forschungskolloquium Neues Testament und Antikes Judentum”, on the topic of “Was Conversion to Judaism Denied in the Second Temple Period?” I thank Professors Lutz Doering, Christina Hoegen-Rohls, Outi Lehtipuu, Eve-Marie Becker, Christophe Nihan, Reinhard Achenbach and Michael Tilly for these great opportunities to present my research and receive valuable feedback.
During my stay I published two articles, and another one has been accepted for publication:
Matan Orian, “Numbers 4:20 and Non-Priestly Viewing of the Holy Vessels in the Second Temple Period,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 55.1 (2024), 76–99.
Matan Orian, “Leviticus 22:25 and Sacrifices by Gentiles,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 31.2 (2024), 113-135.
Matan Orian, “Was the Possibility of Conversion to Judaism Denied in the Second Temple Period?” Jewish Quarterly Review (2025) (forthcoming).
I also took part, on behalf of the Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum, in two stimulating conferences: “Die Autorität der Tora” in Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg, and “The Apocalypse of John in the Context of Ancient Judaism”, here in Münster. I was happy to meet on these occasions scholars from other universities within German-speaking academia and form new ties with colleagues within my fields of interest.
Of course, residing in the lovely city of Münster was a wonderful experience for me and my family and we will miss it and the many friends we made here. I already look forward to visiting it in the future!
Excursion to the Jewish cemetery in Aub (near Würzburg)
This summer semester (2024), Professor Lutz Doering once again gave an exercise on Jewish cemeteries, in which students learn about the features and characteristics, especially burial practices, of a Jewish cemetery and are led to read and contextualize Hebrew inscriptions on gravestones themselves. After day excursions to the Jewish cemetery in Münster and to the Holy Sand in Worms (the oldest Jewish cemetery in Central Europe), the course ended with a two-day excursion (11.06 - 13.06.2024) to the Jewish cemetery in Aub (near Würzburg).
The Jewish cemetery in Aub has not yet been comprehensively catalogued. Despite initial recordings and inventories of gravestones, the inscriptions have not yet been comprehensively deciphered, transcribed and translated. This was the starting point for the excursion. On arrival, the team first had to carefully clear ivy and nettles, whereupon numerous overgrown inscriptions in the surrounding wall of the cemetery came to light again. The Jewish cemetery in Aub was initially located in the moat next to the eastern town wall. When it was full, a new cemetery was built diagonally opposite around 1835. When the old cemetery was filled in and leveled in the 1920s, around 41 gravestones from the old cemetery were embedded in the surrounding wall of the current cemetery in 1923.
As you enter the cemetery, you stand in front of the memorial commemorating the Jewish citizens of Aub who lost their lives in the First World War (see photo). Then, on the left-hand side, in front of the older stones set into the surrounding wall, there are three rows of around 100 gravestones. As a rule, the grave sites were occupied successively according to the date of death, starting with the first row on the right. The inscriptions on some of the stones, especially the oldest ones in the enclosing wall, are difficult to decipher as they have been damaged by the weather and plant growth - some of them so badly that only barely legible remnants of the inscriptions are recognizable. However, other inscriptions have been recorded and transcribed so that the names of the Jews of Aub and their exact dates of death in Hebrew are not forgotten. So far, the deciphering of some gravestones from the 18th and early 19th century and the reading of numerous gravestones from the last third of the 19th century have been successful. The last surviving gravestone dates from 1937. In the 1930s, many Jews left Aub, others fell victim to persecution during the Nazi era. The Jewish community was dissolved in 1940.
It was by no means possible to record all the stones during the previous excursion, and the cataloging work requires further expertise and financial resources to make as many inscriptions as possible legible. At the end of this work, a digital publication of the gravestones and their associated inscriptions is to be produced, which will contribute to a deeper understanding of rural Judaism in Lower Franconia.
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Kraus will give the next Delitzsch Lecture
On 02.12.24 at 6 pm c.t. Prof. Dr. Wolfang Kraus will give the Delitzsch Lecture on the following topic:
"Descendants of Abraham. An appropriate paradigm for describing the Christian-Jewish relationship?
The question will be whether the syntagm used in the New Testament (especially by Paul and in the Letter to the Hebrews) is suitable for describing the relationship between the Christian Church and the Jewish people. The Jewish people are the permanently chosen people of God. It took a long time for this truth to become established in the Church. When Paul describes Christians as descendants of Abraham and therefore as heirs of the promise (Gal 3:26-29), does this mean that he is belittling the Jewish people? How can we appropriately describe the relationship between the Church and Israel today?
As last year, the lecture will be accompanied by a workshop with the topic "Conceptions of Israel and the Church in the New Testament". We are looking forward to the Franz Delitzsch Day with lecture and workshop, which will bring this central topic of the Christian-Jewish conversation to the fore.
Report on the conference „The Apocalypse of John in the Context of Ancient Judaism”
From June 3-5, 2024, Prof. Dr. Lutz Doering and his research assistant Dr. des. John Dik on the Apocalypse of John and its context in ancient Judaism took place. The financial means were provided by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation after a successful application to the Foundation for the Promotion of Science, for which we would like to take this opportunity to thank them once again.
The aim of the conference was to perceive the Apocalypse of John (Apk) in its diverse contexts of ancient Judaism, both on a socio-historical level and on a literary level. The opening lecture was given by Prof. Dr. Hermann Lichtenberger (Emeritus, Tübingen) on the question of the role of the author in the Apocalypse and in ancient Judaism. Prof. Dr. Loren Stuckenbruck (Munich) spoke on the diverse relationships between Apk and the Book of Watchers from 1 Enoch. Another international expert on the Apocalypse, Prof. Dr. Martin Karrer (Emeritus, Wuppertal), presented the Editio Critica Maior on the Apocalypse of John, which has just been published and whose completion is the result of ten intensive and laborious years of work. Before going to dinner together at the Aasee, Prof. Dr. Beate Kowalski (Dortmund) showed in an impressive way that John can almost be described as the "second Ezekiel" due to his reception of the book of Ezekiel, which can be felt in almost every verse.
The second day began with a lecture by Prof. Dr. Jan Willem van Henten (Emeritus, Amsterdam), in which he located the addressee communities of Acts in the context of the Jewish communities of Asia Minor. Prof. Dr. Tobias Nicklas (Regensburg) followed and showed that the question of the people of God and their identity as Israel suggests the participation of Apk in a larger discourse on Israel in the Second Temple period. Silvia Proelss, M.A. (Pretoria) took up this question in her lecture by making the exegetical attempt not to read Israel as a metaphor for "the church", but to remain with the term in its presuppositions of the ethnic discourse, and only then to relate it to the peoples and their relationship to Israel. This was followed by various examinations of the history of motifs, all of which showed how many themes and topoi John has in common with other Jewish apocalypses. Prof. Dr. Gert Steyn (Ewersbach, Pretoria) shed light on the dragon motif in Acts 12; Prof. Dr. Annette Steudel (Göttingen) showed the relationships between Acts and the writings from Qumran; Dr. Luc Bulundwe (Geneva, Regensburg) compared the Apocalyptic's critique of Rome and that of the Sybilline Oracles; Dr. Daniel Schumann (Tübingen) spoke on the Exodus motif in Acts and 1 Hen, and finally Prof. Dr. Lutz Doering pointed out the numerous similarities and differences between the Apocalypse of John and the works 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch, which were written around the same time, with regard to the heavenly Jerusalem. The day was concluded with a visit to the Bible Museum and dinner.
The last day began with a lecture on the resurrection in Apk and other Jewish apocalypses by PD Dr. Nikolai Kiel (Frankfurt/Main). This was followed by two lectures comparing Apk with the apocalypses handed down in Church Slavonic. Prof. Dr. Florentina Badalanova Geller (London) spoke on parallels between Apk and 2 Enoch. Dr. des. John Dik (Münster) spoke on the topic of the vision of divine glory in Acts and the Apocalypse of Abraham, which takes place in both works by means of artfully described throne visions and intermediary figures. Prof. Dr. Michael Sommer (Frankfurt/Main) compared Apk with the Zephaniah Apocalypse in relation to angelology. Prof. Dr. Thomas Witulski (Bielefeld) spoke on separation and integration in Acts and 4 Maccabees, and Prof. Dr. Rivka Ulmer (Emeritus, Lewisburg, USA) presented the rabbinic work Pesiqta Rabbati, which contains numerous apocalyptic motifs reminiscent of the Jewish and Christian apocalypses from the Second Temple period.
The contributions of renowned experts in the field of ancient Judaism and early Christianity have shown that understanding the Apocalypse of John in the context of ancient Judaism is a historically well-founded and exegetically very fruitful hermeneutical category for understanding it. The last book of the New Testament (Western) canon expresses its theology with images that are deeply rooted in the writings of the traditions of Israel and in the discourses of ancient Judaism. The question of genre can also only be explored and understood from here and not solely from canonical contexts.
We are very pleased that this successful conference could take place in Münster and are now working on the publication of the anthology, which will be published by V&R in the Ioudaioi series and will stimulate innovative and further impulses for research into the Apocalypse of John in the context of ancient Judaism.
Announcement of the international conference "The Apocalypse of John in the Context of Ancient Judaism" from June 3 - 5, 2024 in Münster
The Apocalypse of John has attracted increasing interest in research over the last three decades, having long been a neglected area of New Testament scholarship. This is flanked by the charisma that the dazzling character of the last book of the Bible has gained for wider circles; the images and motifs of the Apocalypse have long since become a central part of popular culture, so that the apocalyptic horsemen and other keywords such as "Harmaggedon" are well known, from fantasy literature and films to video and computer games.
Less well known are the origins and contexts of these images and motifs in Mesopotamian, Iranian, Greco-Roman and Jewish culture. The aim of the conference is to focus primarily on the Jewish context for the Apk and to show the numerous connections to it, which has only been partially achieved in previous research, including that of recent decades.
In order to pursue these approaches further, to deepen them and also to gain new perspectives on the Apocalypse of John in its Jewish context, we are bringing together renowned experts both on the Apocalypse of John and on other areas of ancient Judaism, such as Qumran and Rabbinic Judaism.
Review of the Franz Delitzsch Lecture on November 27, 2023: Hanukkah - the modern rebirth of an ancient Jewish festival
The Franz Delitzsch Lecture was something very special this year: firstly, the lecture was combined with a workshop for the first time, and secondly, the lecture by Jerusalem professor and rabbi Dr. Yehoyada Amir was also shaped by the terrifying events in Israel.
The workshop was very well attended with around 50 participants, many of whom were students. After Professor Amir had given a brief introduction to the topic of Hanukkah, we participants were divided into six groups in which we studied texts from Jewish tradition, especially from the Babylonian Talmud, on the significance of Hanukkah in a pleasant atmosphere. The Babylonian Talmud does not focus on the warlike conflicts between the Seleucids and the Maccabees; rather, an etiology for the festival is given, which consists of the miracle of the oil: After the temple had been devastated and desecrated, the Jews found only a jar of holy oil; however, this oil only lasted for one day. Nevertheless, the candlestick was lit with it and burned - miraculously - for eight days. According to the sages, this is the origin of the eight-day festival of lights in December, at the time of the winter solstice, when non-Jews also celebrated various festivals of lights: the longing for light is probably common to all people and religions, especially in the dark times.
After the workshop, it was time for the lecture, which also filled the lecture hall with around 90 visitors.
"These days, the Jews are preparing for Hanukkah, the festival of lights, and the Christians for Christmas, the symbol of light, faith and the birth of redemption and hope. In the winter darkness, we light candles and strive to bring light into the world. We are committed to spreading happiness and freedom, courage and responsibility. Yet I come to you in moments of terrible distress, of the worst darkness, of war and death caused by a terrible attack on the existence of my country."
With these words, Professor Amir began his lecture, in which he took us into the deeper meaning of Hanukkah, which goes back to the story of creation and in which, despite Tohu-va-Bohu, there is light and order. From the ancient texts, he then moved on to the responsibility of every human being, which is to spread light so that creation does not fall back into tohu-va-bohu, the dark chaos.
The Franz Delitzsch Day ended with a get-together and a good meal. The following day, Professor Amir contributed to a main seminar of the Institute and the Faculty. We are grateful to Professor Amir for his special commitment and look forward to the publication of the lecture.
Professor Doering Senior Fellow at the DFG Centre for Advanced Studies “Beyond Canon” in Regensburg
From May to July 2023, Professor Lutz Doering was a Senior Fellow at the DFG-funded Centre for Advanced Studies “Beyond Canon” (FOR 2770) at the University of Regensburg. Lutz Doering used his stay in this dynamic community of researchers to complete his work on the translation of, and short commentary on, 4 Ezra, a Jewish apocalypse later transmitted by Christians and extant in nine ancient translations in seven languages. In the Latin branch of the textual transmission, where it was also flanked by two Christian writings (5/6 Ezra), 4 Ezra stands sharply on the border of the canon: included in important French and Spanish biblical manuscripts and later in the Gutenberg Bible, the book was rejected by Luther, relegated to the appendix of the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate after the decision of the Council of Trent, but included by the English King James Version, as “2 Esdras”, in its Apocrypha section. In its Jewish context of production and reception, 4 Ezra offered a complex response to the challenges posed by the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans, referring to the Torah and its renewal, the sovereignty and faithfulness of God, the coming of the Messiah and his victory over the Roman Empire, the Last Judgement, and the imperishable new aeon and the future of the souls of the righteous. On 21 June 2023, as part of the hybrid “Fellows’ Brunch”, Professor Doering gave a lecture entitled “A New Moses or a Prophet like Moses? Observations on 4 Ezra 14 in the Context of Related Literature”.
Dr Matan Orian, Heinrich Hertz Fellow at the IJD, hosted by Professor Doering
From August 2023 onwards, Dr Matan Orian will be hosted at the IJD by Professor Doering as Heinrich Hertz Fellow for twelve months. Dr Orian completed his doctorate at Tel Aviv University with a thesis on “Gentiles and the House of the One God in Jewish Sources from the First Temple to the Hasmonaean State”. In his research project, The Impurity of the Gentiles in the Second Temple Period, for which the scholarship has been awarded, Matan Orian intends to work on this complex problem comprehensively and to deepen the question beyond the dissertation, on the one hand, by taking early Christian sources into account, and, on the other hand, by extending it chronologically through the inclusion of texts up to the end of the 1st century CE. We look forward to working with Dr Orian during his stay!
Advance notice: Franz Delitzsch Lecture on November 27, 2023 - Chanukka - the modern rebirth of an ancient Jewish festival.
Place and time: Schlossplatz 46, H2 (lecture hall), 27.11.23, 18:00 c.t.
This year, Rabbi Prof. Yehoyada Amir (PhD) from Hebrew Union College-JIR, Jerusalem, will deliver the Franz Delitzsch Lecture. Yehoyada Amir is Professor Emeritus of Jewish Thought at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem and a formative figure in Israeli Reform Judaism. His research focuses on Jewish modern philosophy and theology, on which he has written numerous articles on Franz Rosenzweig, Nachman Krochmal, and Eliezer Schweid.
This year, he will deliver the Franz Delitzsch Lecture on the topic of Chanukka:
For pre-modern Jewish tradition, the Chanukka festival was a rather insignificant moment in the Hebrew calendar. Halakhically, the features of the festival are ambiguous: no day of rest, but a very solemn daily reading of the Hallel Psalms; no Mussaf prayer or other liturgical forms in the synagogue, but a distinctive rite at home; Torah readings that have little to do with the story of Chanukka, but a prophetic reading (Haftara) that offers a radical alternative to the religious values of the historical event of Chanukka. Moreover, the story that established the festival was unclear and ambiguous: what exactly is the miracle supposed to be? What are we thankful for in this festival?
Modern Judaism, with its multiple manifestations and directions, has reinvented this small, unimportant festival. The Haskalah, the science of Judaism, and later Zionism, attached an importance to the Second Temple period in general, and to the Maccabean period in particular, such as they never had before. Their goal was to achieve a modern view of history as an alternative to the traditional view. They presented the military and political work of the Maccabees as the central event in classical Jewish history. The small festival of Chanukka became a central and high value moment of the new Jewish calendar.
On the other hand, Chanukka, the festival of light that falls around the time of Christmas, became more and more a Jewish "answer" to the Christian festival. This development began at home, within the family and in the synagogue. More recently, Chanukka has also become a powerful symbol of the new, evolving place of Judaism in the public sphere: in Israel and around the world, from the lighting of the Chanukka candlestick in the White House to the Chanukkia in Maria Euthymia Square in Münster.
Even if not in full occupation, the team of the IJD was allowed to conclude the lecture period of the summer semester with an excursion to the pedal boating on the Aasee. With summer temperatures, a nice breeze and good food, the first vacation feelings came up.
Prof. Dr. Sandra Gambetti as WWU Fellow at the IJD
During the months of April to June 2023, Prof. Dr. Sandra Gambetti conducted research as a WWU Fellow at the IJD and the Faculty of Protestant Theology. Prof. Dr. Lutz Doering was the academic host; Ms. Gambetti also networked at the Center for Eastern Mediterranean History and Culture (GKM) during her stay.
Sandra Gambetti is Professor of History at the College of Staten Island, City University New York (CUNY). Her research in Münster is related to the commentary on Philo of Alexandria, Legatio ad Gaium, which Professor Gambetti is writing for the Philo of Alexandria Commentary Series (Brill). On April 26, she gave a lecture at the Faculty of Protestant Theology entitled "The Introduction of Philo's Legatio (ch. 1-8): what does it really say?"
Prof. Dr. Sylvie Honigman as a guest at the Faculty of Protestant Theology and at the IJD
During the academic year 2022/23 Prof. Dr. Sylvie Honigman from Tel Aviv University is a guest at the Faculty of Protestant Theology and at the IJD. She cooperates here especially in the context of the Center for History and Culture of the Eastern Mediterranean (GKM). Sylvie Honigman is Associate Professor at the Department of History at Tel Aviv University.
Her current research project aims to redefine the social and cultural environment in which new types of literary works emerged in Judea in the Hellenistic period, focusing primarily on apocalyptic and new wisdom texts. Using recent studies of empire and local elites to offer an alternative to the paradigm of "Hellenization and resistance," Professor Honigman aims to show that literary production in Judea owed as much to the lively intellectual exchange with other temple cultures as to the Alexandrian center of Greek culture and literature.
During her stay, she was instrumental, among other things, in a roundtable discussion on April 14, 2023, on "Mediterranean Cultural Koine: The Movement of People, Goods, and Ideas" (with Christoph Michels, Eve-Marie Becker, and Kathryn Stevens [Oxford]; organizer: Hans Beck; responder: Lutz Doering) and gave a lecture on 5. July 2023 at the University of Münster: "The Early Judaean Apocalypses (Fourth/Third Century BCE to First Century CE): Their Cultural and Historical Origins and Functions".
John Dik und Florian Neitmann in the Podcast "New from the Old World"
What is "apocalypse" and what are "apocalyptic texts"? Both John Dik and Florian Neitmann are writing a doctoral thesis on apocalyptic texts in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity and report on their research in the podcast. Lotta and Franzi talk to them about their stays abroad, their different doctoral paths and find out what is behind these apocalyptic texts and why they have much more to do with us today than we think.
Review of the Franz Delitzsch Lecture on November 28, 2022 by Professor Max Küchler (Emeritus).
The last Franz Delitzsch Lecture took place on November 28, 2022 in the lecture hall building of WWU, Schlossplatz 46 (Lecture Hall H4). Once again, we took advantage of hybrid opportunities to reach a wider audience.
It was a great pleasure for us to welcome Professor Dr. Max Küchler from Fribourg as this year's speaker. Max Küchler took us into the exciting world of Jewish coins at the time of the 1st and 2nd Jewish War and introduced us to their inscriptions and pictorial symbols. However, he did this through the detour of the interpretation of Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, a 17th century scholar who mistook these coins for coins from the Davidic and Solomonic periods. Along the way, the audience was introduced not only to the Jewish coins, but also to their convoluted paths through the centuries, along with their curious interpretations. We eagerly await the publication of the lecture.
How can one see oneself as a theologian and cultural scientist at the same time? Franzi and Jessica discuss this question in a conversation with Dr. Lutz Doering, Professor of New Testament and Ancient Judaism and Director of the Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum. In addition, Lutz Doering reports on his study experiences in Israel. He also presents his current project: an annotated translation of 4 Ezra. If you don't know 4 Esra yet - just listen to this episode!
Prof. Doering is the guest speaker. Information on the podcast project and the current episode can be found here.
Advance notice: Franz Delitzsch Lecture on November 28, 2022 - Professor Max Küchler, Fribourg
The next Franz Delitzsch Lecture on Monday, November 28, 2022 (6 p.m. s.t., H4 in the Lecture Hall Building), will be given by the renowned biblical scholar Max Küchler, Professor Emeritus at the Catholic Faculty of Theology of the Université de Fribourg in Switzerland. Max Küchler has done important research on early Jewish wisdom traditions and then became known primarily - in conjunction with the Old Testament scholar Othmar Keel, who also works in Fribourg - for the multi-volume study travel guide "Places and Landscapes of the Bible," of which Max Küchler was the sole author of the volume "Jerusalem" (2007, 2nd revised ed. 2014). Küchler spoke about Jerusalem in January 2014 in Münster in a lecture series on "Sacred Places" for which the Cluster of Excellence Religion and Politics was responsible. In 2022, Professor Küchler published the monograph "Geschichte der jüdischen Numismatik, Band 1: 2.-16. Jh. Historisches Vergessen - Jüdische Bewahrung - Europäische Entdeckung" in the series "Ioudaioi - Schriften des Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum" edited by Professor Doering.
Max Küchler will give his Franz Delitzsch Lecture on the following topic:
Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc (1580-1637) - The handling of ancient Hebrew coins by a 17th century "monster of scholarship".
In the 16th century, Hebrew-inscribed coins were rediscovered in Western scholarship of antiquity, imitated in imitations, supplemented by shekel medals, and expanded with biblical fancy coins, as presented in Volume I of the "History of Jewish Numismatics" (2022). The lecture now deals with the polymath Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, who was famous far and wide in France of the 17th century, i.e. about 400 years ago, and who, within his all-encompassing interests, also dealt with numismatics and, in the course of this, dealt with silver shekels and bronze coins with ancient Hebrew inscriptions, bought such and, as he says in a letter of Nov. 8, 1631 to Jean Morin (1591-1659), owned more than 30 specimens in the collections of his "Cabinet of Curiosities".
In a bundle of handwritten Latin texts entitled De Nummis. De Gemmis. Inscriptiones antiquae etc., two sheets by him are preserved in the Fonds Dupuy 667 of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, which, according to the title, present the "Ancient Silver and Bronze Coins of the Hebrews" (Hebraeorum Numismata Argentea et Aerea Antiqua). In all, he presents 21 coins, three whole, one half and six quarter shekels of silver and eleven bronze coins of various denominations. (N. B.: These are the precise subject of this lecture).
Since Fabri de Peiresc did not yet possess corpora of Jewish coins and thus had little means of comparison, he read and interpreted the coins he encountered and had traced in various collections in Italy and France in his own way: He copies the ancient Hebrew inscriptions, whose letters he calls Samaritan, then transcribes them into modern Hebrew and provides them with a Latin translation, while he describes the pictorial motifs, which are always correctly depicted, from his botanical, musicological, religious-historical, and - though rarely - biblical knowledge. In doing so, he always ignores the Jewish context of both the inscriptions and the pictorial motifs and knows nothing about the historical origin of the coins in the 1st and 2nd Jewish wars against the Romans (66-70 and 132-135/6 A.D.).
Thus, his explanations are indeed an important testimony for the existence of Jewish coins and their interpretation in the religious and secular scholarly world of the Christian West ... even if his readings and interpretations were to a large extent wrong and did not (yet) correspond to what we have today in terms of knowledge about Jewish numismatics.
We look forward to lively participation in presence, but there is also the possibility of digital connection.
After our annual company outings had to be cancelled twice in a row due to corona, we were all very happy to be able to spend an afternoon together on 26 August. This was also a good opportunity to get to know the new staff members at the institute.
We started at the IJD and walked along the Aasee to the Mühlenhof. The Mühlenhof is located on the outskirts of Münster in the recreation area at the Aasee. There we were taken by Mrs. Freese into the life on a Münster farm several centuries ago. We marveled at the buildings, some of which were 400 years old, such as the Gräftenhof, the old carpenter's and shoemaker's shop, the blacksmith's shop and much more. At the same time, we enjoyed the entertaining stories about life on the farm: Who had what duties? Who was allowed to marry whom? Why do people put their foot in their mouth and who has something up their sleeve? And much more.
To finish, we enjoyed Italian delicacies and drinks at the Aasee.
Field report about the research stay in Israel
John Dik (M.A.) and Florian Neitmann (Dipl.-Theol)
In the summer semester of 2022, we, John Dik and Florian Neitmann, were lucky enough to spend a research stay at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem as part of WWU's Erasmus plus cooperation with Israeli universities. Having already participated together in the "Study in Israel" program in 2016-17, we now climbed Mount Scopus for a second time to broaden our horizons in the study of ancient Judaism and to deepen our research in Jewish and early Christian apocalyptic.
This was also helped by our interactions with many leading experts in ancient Judaism, who are gathered in large numbers at the Hebrew University and who were always open and inviting to share ideas and perspectives on various texts and topics with us. Of course, living in the culturally and religiously diverse environment was again a stimulating experience. After all, in Jerusalem every stone tells a story, if not several - not to mention the people.
We are pleased that Erasmus plus now also enables exchanges with Israel and are looking forward to further joint projects and cooperation with the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Luisa Riepenhausen (SHK) goes to Israel for one year - a report
After 6 months at the IJD I look back on a time full of experiences. I have come to appreciate the institute not only as a place to work, but also as a place to learn and study. The insights into the different research areas of the IJD have also encouraged me to study with "Studium in Israel e.V." for one year at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, in order to devote myself especially to Judaism and rabbinic literature. Currently, I have been in the country for a month, studying Ivrit in the intensive Ulpan and have already been able to visit the first excavation sites and synagogues and immerse myself in the culture of the country. I am looking forward to the time that lies ahead of me and will always remember the work in the IJD with pleasure.
Farewell of Yannick Golchert and Franziska Steiger - Introduction of the new student assistants
After many years of dedicated work at the IJD, we had to say goodbye to Yannick Golchert as a student assistant. He is now in preparation for his ecclesiastical exam. We wish him all the best and much success.
Another student assistant has also left the IJD. Franziska Steiger became mother of a daughter in February 2022. We as a team would like to congratulate her!
In return, new student assistants are now enriching the work at the institute. Hanna Antensteiner is studying Protestant Theology and Jewish Studies and is now employed at the Institute with three hours per week.
Kolja Damm, also a student of Protestant Theology, supports the IJD with five hours a week.
We are happy about the new support and look forward to a productive cooperation.
Professor Matthias Henze as a guest at the Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum
From July 5-7, 2022, Professor Matthias Henze, Isla Carroll & Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies and Director of the Program in Jewish Studies at Rice University, Houston, Texas, was a guest at the IJD. Professor Henze is a renowned specialist in the field of Jewish apocalyptic and one of the world's best experts on the 2nd (Syriac) Book of Baruch. Apart from discussions with Professor Doering about cooperation in this research area, which is also important for research at the IJD, Professor Henze gave a lecture at the Research Colloquium New Testament and Ancient Judaism on July 6, 2022, on the topic "Baruch's Lamentation over Jerusalem (2 Baruch 10-12) in the Context of Contemporary Lamentations."
Professor John R. (Jack) Levison as Humboldt Fellow Visiting Professor Doering.
During the months of June and July 2022, Professor Jack Levison, W. J. A. Power Chair at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, stayed at IJD as Professor Doering's guest as part of a reinstatement of his Humboldt Research Fellowship. Jack Levison has made outstanding contributions to the study of pseudepigraphy, especially the lives of Adam and Eve, and has written important books on conceptions of the Holy Spirit in ancient Jewish and early Christian literature. Both topics were also the focus of his stay in Münster: on the one hand, Professor Levison worked on a monograph on the Greek Life of Adam and Eve during this time, and on the other hand, he gave a lecture at the Research Colloquium New Testament and Ancient Judaism on "The Holy Spirit Before Christianity" on June 15, 2022.
Farewell to Michaela Karpol - Reorganization of Ivrit teaching.
In addition to research in Ancient Judaism and the New Testament, the teaching of Modern Hebrew is a central concern of the IJD. Michaela Karpol has shared this concern for over ten years, introducing WWU students to Modern Hebrew. Due to professional reorientation, she has now resigned from her work at the IJD. We thank her for her dedication and cooperation.
The IJD has been able to add a competent and experienced language teacher, Anat Hammermann, for the summer semester 2022. As of the winter semester 2022/23, Ms. Hadar Cohen Kalinowski will take over an Ivrit course. Volker Konrad will continue to teach Ivrit.
New in the secretariat of the IJD: Ms. Claudia Deimann
In October 2021, Ms. Claudia Deimann succeeded Ms. Kerstin Böckenhoff MA. The trained banker has professional experience in a public administration and has been working in the Dean's Office of the Faculty of Protestant Theology since September 2020. Furthermore, she still takes over tasks in the study office of the Faculty of Protestant Theology. We wish Ms. Deimann all the best for her work in the IJD and are pleased about the enrichment in our institute.
Farewell of Laura von Bartenwerffer (Dipl.-Theol.)
After many years of working at the IJD, we had to say goodbye to Laura von Bartenwerffer. After working as a Student and Research Assistant at the Institute for three years (2014-2017), she was a Research Associate for three years (2018-2021). During this time, Laura von Bartenwerffer has been particularly responsible for the Institute's website, in addition to teaching duties, and has advanced the Institute's work with her eye for organizational matters. Her research focuses on conceptions of purity in Ancient Diaspora Judaism.
In December 2021, Laura von Bartenwerffer became mother of a son, for which we as the IJD team offer our heartfelt congratulations. From 01.10.2022 Laura von Bartenwerffer will start her vicariate in the congregation of Essen-Bergerhausen.
Volume on Jewish Numismatics by Professor em. Max Küchler (Université de Fribourg).
The already announced volume on the history of Jewish numismatics, rich in material, has now been published in the Institute's series Ioudaioi.
In memory of Diethard Aschoff (1937-2021)
On December 6, 2021, after a long illness, Prof. Dr. Diethard Aschoff, long-time staff member of the Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum (IJD), honorary professor of the Faculty of Protestant Theology of the WWU Münster and important researcher of the Jewish history of Westphalia, passed away. Diethard Aschoff was born in Frankfurt am Main on March 7, 1937. After studying Latin and history as well as Protestant theology in Munich and Heidelberg, he worked from 1969 to 1971 as a student teacher and assistant to Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Brilling, head of the Department for the History of German Jewry in Münster, which was affiliated with the IJD at the time, before receiving his doctorate in medieval history in Heidelberg in 1971. After an assistantship in medieval history in Heidelberg, he worked in the teaching profession from 1976 to 1993, most recently as a senior teacher at the Gymnasium Hammonense in Hamm. After Aschoff had already received a teaching assignment for the history of German Jewry at the WWU Münster from 1978, he was awarded the title of honorary professor in 1990. From 1997 to 2002 he was director of studies in university service at the IJD; on the occasion of his retirement he was honored with the Festschrift "Grenzgänge. Menschen und Schicksale zwischen jüdischer, christlicher und deutscher Identität" (ed. F. Siegert, Münster 2002). Diethard Aschoff had been a member of the Historical Commission on Westphalia since 1986 and received the Historian's Prize of the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe in the same year.
Diethard Aschoff made a name for himself primarily through his research on the history of the Jews in Westphalia, with a special focus on Münster and its environs. Significant was his editorship of the series Westfalia Judaica, for which he published the first volume of Bernhard Brilling and Helmut Richterling, Quellen und Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in Westfalen und Lippe. 1005-1350, in 2nd edition 1992 supplemented by extensive addenda. In 2000, Aschoff's own edited vol. 3.1, Quellen und Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in der Stadt Münster 1530-1650/1662, was published, five years later his vol. 3.2, Quellen und Regesten zur Geschichte der Juden in der Stadt Hamm. Von den Anfängen bis zur Zeit des großen Kurfürsten 1287-1664. In addition, Diethard Aschoff has brought the history and culture of the Jews in Westphalia to a wider audience, for example, through his collections of pictorial media or his Geschichte der Juden in Westfalen im Mittelalter (Münster 2006). Diethard Aschoff has also edited Marga Spiegel's well-known book, Retter in der Nacht, from the 3rd ed. and added explanatory notes (7th ed., Münster 2009). Diethard Aschoff has also rendered outstanding services to the illumination of Jewish life and Jewish past in other places of the Münsterland (in Laer, in the district of Borken, in the district of Coesfeld). His list of publications includes more than 180 essays on various topics and periods of Jewish history.
The Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum and the Faculty of Protestant Theology of the WWU Münster will keep Prof. Dr. Diethard Aschoff in honorable memory.
Review of the Franz Delitzsch Lecture on November 29, 2021 by Professor Klaus Wengst.
The last Franz Delitzsch Lecture was held in hybrid form on November 29, 2021 in the lecture hall building of WWU, Schlossplatz 46 (Lecture Hall H2).
It was our great pleasure to welcome Prof. Dr. Klaus Wengst (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) as this year's lecturer. "On the Usefulness of Reading Rabbinic Texts for the Interpretation of the New Testament" was the thematic title of his Franz Delitzsch Lecture. This addressed an important, exciting and debatable topic of New Testament exegesis in the context of ancient Judaism and in the horizon of Christian-Jewish encounter. We were very pleased about the lively participation on site and also about Zoom.
Im Rahmen der 1700-Jahrfeier jüdischen Lebens in Deutschland führen Mitarbeitende des Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum sowie der Katholisch-Theologischen Fakultät der WWU Münster über den Jüdischen Friedhof in Münster.
Für diese Führungen unter der Überschrift „Haus des ewigen Lebens“ gestattet die Jüdische Gemeinde Münster Interessierten Zutritt zu dem ansonsten für die Öffentlichkeit verschlossenen Friedhof. Die Teilnehmer*innen erhalten Einblicke in die jüdische Begräbniskultur sowie in die jüdische Grabkunst. Anhand von einzelnen Grabsteinen werden außerdem Biografien mancher jüdischer Bürger*innen aus dem Münsterland nacherzählt und so das jüdische Leben in Münster auf besondere Weise entdeckt.
Die Teilnehmerzahl ist begrenzt. Eine Anmeldung für einen der beiden Termine ist bis zum 11.10.2021 unter folgender E-Mail-Adresse möglich: f.steiger@uni-muenster.de.
Conference "Globalisation in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity: Theory and Practice" (12.-14.7.2021)
From July 12 to July 14, 2021, an international conference on "Globalisation in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity: Theory and Practice" was held in Münster, organized by Prof. Dr. Lutz Doering together with Dr. Bärry Hartog, former Humboldt Research Fellow at the IJD and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Protestantse Theologische Universiteit Groningen (PThU).
Presenters came not only from the Netherlands and Germany, but also from the USA, Canada, Israel, Austria and Denmark. Due to the pandemic situation, the conference was held hybrid, so that only some of the participants were on site in Münster. The conference was financed by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the PThU and the Internationalization Fund of the WWU Münster.
The conference was devoted to the question of whether, in what way, and with what yield theories of globalization, which in recent years have been increasingly discussed in ancient studies and archaeology, can be applied to ancient Judaism and early Christianity. In doing so, some of the contributions dealt with theoretical approaches to globalization and placed them in the context of neighboring approaches such as network theory, (trans)locality, and transculturality. Other contributions illuminated the relationship between the global and the local, the universal and the particular, using source evidence, or explored the significance of factors such as translation or mobility.
The hybrid format meant that it was possible to participate in the conference both on-site and remotely via Zoom. On site in Münster, the conference took place in the auditorium of Vom-Stein-Haus with a lot of distance and an elaborated infection control concept. With the help of a 360° conference camera, it was possible to digitally see and hear both the speaker and the participants in the room. All participants via Zoom were displayed in the usual "tile" format on a large screen. Even though it was a pity that due to the pandemic only researchers from Germany and nearby foreign countries found their way to Münster, the hybrid format enabled numerous forms of participation that are certainly worth considering in the future with regard to the CO2 alliance of such conferences.
Back in the seminar room for the first time in a long time
by Franziska Steiger
Studying in presence again - this became possible again for all students of the Westfälische-Wilhelms University at the end of the summer semester with the change of the Corona Protection Ordinance from the beginning of June and the ever decreasing incidence figures.
However, since the number of participants is still limited to 50 and it must remain possible for all students to finish the semester they started digitally, many instructors now went into hybrid teaching. In concrete terms, this meant that some students were able to return to the lecture halls and seminar rooms for lectures, seminars and exercises if they wished and if possible, while other fellow students were connected via the "Zoom" video conferencing tool. With specially purchased conference cameras, the Faculty of Protestant Theology in general and the Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum in particular were technically well equipped for this type of hybrid teaching.
After two semesters of purely online teaching, this change at the end of the lecture period of the summer semester was for many students a welcome and long-lost opportunity to finally get back into direct conversation with fellow students and also the lecturers themselves. For quite a few, it was even the first opportunity to see the university from the inside since the beginning of their studies. For example, the offer of hybrid or face-to-face teaching in the main seminar by Prof. Doering and in the tutorial by Mr. Dik was gladly accepted by many. Also in the lecture Introduction to the Qumran Texts by Mr. Doering, individual students participated in presence towards the end, while the majority of the listeners continued to follow the lecture through livestream and also later retrievable video recordings. It has to be taken into account that some students preferred online teaching from home even at the end of this summer semester, partly because they are not resident in Münster at the moment, partly because they were reluctant to switch back and forth between seminar room and laptop when attending several lectures in one day.
It remains to be hoped that the winter semester will be feasible in presence as planned.
Newly published: Lutz Doering and Daniel Schumann (Eds.), Tosefta Studies: Manuscript, Traditions, and Topics
Volume 27 of the Münsteraner Judaistische Studien has just been published by LIT-Verlag. This volume is based on two international Tosefta colloquia held in 2016 and 2017.
This volume offers contributions to two basic questions of the study of the Tosefta: How can we describe the character and relationship of the Tosefta manuscripts? And how does the Tosefta relate to other rabbinic traditions and texts? It also sheds light on other topics of Tosefta research: "magic", emotions, and gender. The volume marks the beginning of a new phase in the study of Tosefta, encouraging an international conversation between scholars on method and contents.
Tosefta Studies: Manuscripts, Traditions, and Topics. Eds. Lutz Doering and Daniel Schumann. MJSt 27. Zürich 2021.
Contents:
Lutz Doering and Daniel Schumann, Introduction
Michael Tilly, Die Tosefta: Beschreibung, Deutung und Verwendung eines Dokuments aus dem antiken jüdischen Schulbetrieb
Daniel Schumann, Observations on the Textual History of the Mishnah and the Tosefta: In Dialogue with Robert Brody
Adiel Schremer, Between “Transmission” and “Performance”: The Complexity and Open Texture of the Textual Tradition of the Tosefta
Daniel Schumann, How “Babylonian” Is the Tosefta?
Lutz Doering, The Notion of Mela’khah in Tosefta Shabbat
Lutz Doering, A Note on the Four Sabbath Domains according to Tosefta Shabbat
Paul Mandel, On the Formation of Collected Traditions in the Tosefta
Lutz Doering, A (Different) Kind of Magic: The “Ways of the Amorite” according to Tosefta Shabbat 6–7
Elisabetta Abate, Biblical Emotions in the Tosefta and the Mishnah: The “Man who is Afraid and Faint of Heart” (Deut 20:8) between Fear, Guilt, Love, and Mercy
Cecilia Haendler, “The Wisest of Women: This is the King of Kings”: Rabbinic “Theology” in Gendered Terms (Tosefta Sanhedrin)
Cumulative Bibliography
Dr. Eran Shuali (Strasbourg) as a guest at the IJD with Professor Doering from September 2020 to August 2021
Dr. Eran Shuali from the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the Université de Strasbourg (France) will be a visiting scholar at the Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum with Prof. Dr. Lutz Doering from September 2020 to August 2021. His stay will be financed by a scholarship from the Heinrich Hertz Foundation. At the IJD, Dr. Shuali will work on a monograph on the history of Hebrew words used for Christians, Christianity, and Christian institutions from the time of early Christianity to the present. In particular, this study will show how this vocabulary has been shaped by theological and ideological views held by Jews and Christians at different times. A first contribution from this project was recently published, "Yešu or Yešuaʿ? A Sketch of the History of Jesus' Names in Hebrew from Antiquity to the Present," Revue des études juives, 2020.
In addition, Dr. Shuali is preparing a new translation of the New Testament into modern Hebrew for Tel Aviv University Press. He has also published several studies on the history of Hebrew translations of the New Testament, including an article on Franz Delitzsch's translation, "The Translation of the New Testament into Hebrew in the Eyes of Franz Delitzsch: Philology, Mission, Theology," Wrocław Theological Review, 2018.
In the winter semester 2020/21, Dr. Shuali has a teaching assignment at FB01 for an exercise entitled "Jewish Perceptions of Christianity: A Brief Overview from Talmudic Times to the Present."
