Dear Friends of the Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies:
Happy New Year! I hope this newsletter finds you safe and healthy. Below you can find some very good news concerning the funding goals of the Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies.
I have also included details about our upcoming programs, which take place on March 3rd and March 29th, as well as recent news and activities at the center.
Respectfully,
|
|
Dr. Matthew Tapie
Associate Professor of Theology
Director, Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies
|
|
Douglas and Maureen Cohn Establish the Cohn Visiting Chair in Jewish Thought & Assistant Director of the CCJS
Since 2015, the primary funding goal of the CCJS has been to secure the presence of a scholar of Jewish thought within the center. Indeed, providing students and members of the community with opportunities to study and engage in dialogue with Judaism and the Jewish people is at the heart of the CCJS's mission.
The CCJS is happy to announce that because of the generosity of Douglas and Maureen Cohn, this goal is now a reality. The Cohns have generously chosen to establish a new full-time faculty position in the CCJS: the Cohn Visiting Chair in Jewish Thought and Assistant Director of the Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies.
The Cohns are longtime friends of the CCJS, and well-known for their generous donations to the Tampa Jewish community, as well as arts and cultural institutions. We want to thank the Cohns for their incredibly generous gift which allows students, faculty, and members of the community to significantly deepen their understanding of Judaism by having direct and regular access to a scholar of Jewish thought.
More details about this new position in the CCJS can be found here. Please share this announcement with scholars who may be interested in the mission of the CCJS. A job description and application details will be announced in the coming weeks. Please direct any questions to Dr. Tapie: matthew.tapie@saintleo.edu.
|
|
Eternal Light Award Recipient Selected
|
|
Eugene Fisher to Receive 18th Eternal Light Award
|
|
Dr. Eugene Fisher has been selected by the CCJS Scholarly Advisory Board as the 18th recipient of the Eternal Light Award for his contributions to Catholic-Jewish studies.
Dr. Fisher is Distinguished Professor of Theology at Saint Leo University, and was appointed as the specialist in Catholic-Jewish Relations for the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in May of 1977, a post in which he served until 2007. In 1981 he was named Consultor to the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, serving in that capacity for 25 years. He has lectured widely throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. In 1995, a book he co-edited with Rabbi Leon Klenicki, John Paul II, Spiritual Pilgrimage: Texts on Jews and Judaism (1996) won the National Jewish Book Award in the Jewish-Christian Relations category. He has published or edited some 20 books and over 250 articles in the field of Jewish-Christian relations, including: The Jewish Roots of Christian Liturgy, ed. (1990); Interwoven Destinies: Jews and Christians through the Ages, ed. (1992); Faith Without Prejudice: Rebuilding Christian Attitudes Toward Judaism (1993); Visions of the Other: Jewish and Christian Theologians Assess the Dialogue, ed. (1994); A Prophet of Our Time: An Anthology of the Writings of Rabbi Marc H. Tannenbaum, ed. with Judith H. Banki (2002). He also co-edited with Leon Klenicki the newly published The Saint for Shalom: How Pope John Paul II Transformed Catholic-Jewish Relations (2011) and edited the book Memoria Futuri: Catholic-Jewish Dialogue Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow; Texts and Addresses of Cardinal William H. Keeler (2012).
Dr. Fisher has accepted the CCJS's invitation to deliver a lecture in Tampa in the second week of November. The lecture will be livestreamed, and additional details about the program will be announced later in the year. We congratulate Dr. Fisher on this well-deserved honor.
|
|
Dr. Eugene Fisher and his wife, Catherine Ambrosiano Fisher, meet with Pope Saint John Paul II in 1987. Accompanying them is Sister Lucy Thorson of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion. Dr. Fisher was in Rome for a meeting of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee. |
|
Thursday, March 3rd
Theological Perspectives on Nationalism, Antisemitism, and Racism in the U.S.
|
|
This program will address the interrelationship between nationalism, antisemitism, and racism in the United States. For instance, in what way is the recent surge in antisemitism and racism exacerbated by nationalism? Nationalism, at least in the 19th century, was predicated on the idea of a "nation" that by definition excluded Jews. How are antisemitism and racism related to contemporary versions of nationalism? Recall that the shooter at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh explicitly named Mark Hetfield of HIAS, and blamed the Jews for bringing non-whites and Muslims into the country. A panel of esteemed scholars, including Dr. William Cavanaugh, Dr. Beverly Mitchell, and Dr. Shai Held, will guide Saint Leo students and members of the community in an analysis of these "isms". |
|
Dr. Beverly Eileen Mitchell is Professor of Systematic Theology and Church History, at Wesley Theological Seminary, in Washington, DC, teaches courses in systematic theology, church history, genocide, global poverty, and African American prophetic literature. She is the author of numerous articles and presentations related to human dignity, the black abolitionist movement, and white supremacy; and two books, Black Abolitionism: The Quest for Human Dignity (2005) and Plantations and Death Camps: Religion, Ideology, and Human Dignity (2009). She is currently working on a manuscript in which she deconstructs the ideology of white supremacy and examines the ways in which the stolen opportunities from racial inequity through housing discrimination contribute to the likelihood of fatal police encounters in African American communities.
|
|
Rabbi Dr. Shai Held is a theologian, scholar, and educator. He is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar. Previously, he served for six years as Scholar-in-Residence at Kehilat Hadar in New York City, and taught both theology and Halakhah at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He also served as Director of Education at Harvard Hillel. Rabbi Held holds a doctorate in religion from Harvard. His main academic interests are in modern Jewish and Christian thought, in biblical theology, and in the history of Zionism. Rabbi Held is the author of Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence (2013); and The Heart of Torah, a collection of essays on the Torah in two volumes (2017). He has also published numerous articles. Rabbi Held has been named multiple times to Newsweek’s list of the 50 most influential rabbis in America.
|
|
Dr. William T. Cavanaugh is Professor of Catholic Studies and Director of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology at DePaul University. His degrees are from the universities of Notre Dame, Cambridge, and Duke. He is the author of eight books and editor of six more. His books include Torture and Eucharist (1998), Being Consumed (2008), and The Myth of Religious Violence (2009). He is working on a book that explores the theme of idolatry in nationalism and other modern pathologies. He has given invited lectures on six continents, and his writings have been translated into 14 languages.
|
|
This program is in-person, free, and open to the public but space is limited.
A livestream will also be available. Register using the button below.
|
|
The event is co-sponsored by Congregation Kol Ami, Tampa Jewish Community Centers & Federation,
and St. Timothy's Catholic Church.
|
|
Tuesday, March 29th
Understanding Jesus and Paul means Understanding Judaism: Pharisees, Prayer, Parable, Practice
6:30 - 8pm | online
|
|
Clergy, religious educators, and members of the community are invited to join us online for a special program on how to avoid anti-Jewish interpretations of the New Testament.
The program features a lecture and Q&A session with Dr. Amy Jill Levine, the Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford Seminary, and Professor of New Testament Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Levine's numerous publications include The Jewish Annotated New Testament (2011), edited with Marc Brettler, and The Pharisees (2021), edited with Joseph Sievers. Dr. Levine is the first Jewish scholar to have taught New Testament at Rome's Pontifical Biblical Institute. In 2009, Dr. Levine received the CCJS Eternal Light Award.
This online program is free and open to the public. Register using the button below.
|
|
This online event is co-sponsored by the Diocese of St. Petersburg. |
|
Recordings of Programs featuring David Novak Now Available
|
|
On Nov. 4th, 2021, the CCJS awarded Dr. David Novak with the Eternal Light Award. You can watch a recording of Dr. Novak's lecture, "Natural Law in the Jewish and Catholic Tradition," here. |
|
Earlier that day, the CCJS hosted a Jewish-Christian dialogue on MLK's Letter from a Birmingham Jail that featured Dr. Novak and Dr. Vincent Lloyd. The President of Saint Leo University, Dr. Jeffrey Senese, gave the welcome for the event. The video is now available here. Students at Saint Leo watched this CCJS program on MLK Day as a way to honor Dr. King's legacy.
|
|
Interfaith Fellows Selected |
|
Each academic year, the CCJS selects two Saint Leo students to serve as interfaith fellows. These fellowships allow students with a strong interest in interreligious dialogue to conduct research for the CCJS's Interreligious Study and Dialogue Project, which identifies religious institutions open to visits from students of World Religions in Dialogue. This year, the interfaith fellows are Isangeley Lopez, a Criminal Justice major, and Shante Johnson, a Religious Studies major. Interfaith fellows receive a partial tuition scholarship as part of their fellowship. The program is made possible by the generosity of the Cohn and Whiting families.
|
|
Judaism and Catholic Theology Series at CUA Press
Two recent projects demonstrate the CCJS's impact and potential for deepening Catholic-Jewish dialogue among scholars. First, Dr. Tapie is co-editing, with Dr. Alan Brill and Dr. Matthew Levering, the fourteen essays presented at the May 9-11th 2021 CCJS online symposium, The Challenge of Theological Dialogue. This collection of essays will be published by the Catholic University of America Press.
In addition to the work on this volume, Dr. Tapie is co-editing, with Dr. Bruce Marshall, a new series at The Catholic University of America Press, entitled Judaism and Catholic Theology. The Judaism and Catholic Theology series aims to further Catholic theological reflection on Judaism and the Jewish people, for scholars, the lay faithful, and interreligious leaders. The first of several books in the new series is forthcoming in February of 2022. You can read more about the CUA Press Judaism and Catholic Theology Series, here.
|
|
Support the Work of the CCJS
|
|
Since its founding in 1998, the CCJS has worked to build bridges of mutual understanding and respect between Catholics and Jews, and all people of good will. Your gift helps us advance scholarship in Catholic-Jewish studies, and provides interfaith education to thousands of students, religious leaders, and members of the community. |
|
Rabbi Dr. David Novak speaks with an attendee at the Nov. 4th 2021
Eternal Light Award Event at Congregation Schaarai Zedek, Tampa, FL
|
|
Stay in contact with the CCJS |
|
Please visit our CCJS social media pages, including the CCJS YouTube Channel, using the below icons.
|
|
Please make sure we have your current contact information by clicking "Update Profile" below. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
