Monday, May 23, 2011

Talmud Department

The blogger who usually reports on Yossi Cedar's movie Footnote is busy running a major conference, so he hasn't noted that the movie won best screenplay at Cannes. I'm sure he'll rectify that soon. But now that the whole world has been exposed (or will be soon) to the joys and terrors of the Talmud department, it seems like a good opportunity to encourage young people to choose to study there.
For all the criticism that can be heard (sometimes from me), it is a remarkable department. The teachers are extremely learned, and they all are deeply committed to their students. Jewish studies has grown worldwide, but the Hebrew University Talmud department remains the best place in the world to study Midrash Halakhah, Geonic literature and medieval Halakhah, not to mention the core topics of Mishnah and both Talmuds. In general, I believe it is the best place to study what can generally be called 'Talmudic philology' and to gain a close and balanced familiarity with the manuscripts.
Besides all that, for the second year running the department is offering full scholarships for students beginning their BA. Full scholarships are also available for those beginning an MA and even for students pursuing supplementary courses to upgrade from a B.Ed to an MA.

And maybe you'll even appear in the sequel movie, Nispah (Excursus).

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

They have money for students but no tenure streams?

7:49 PM  
Blogger Jeffrey R. Woolf said...

I disagree. With all due respect, person for person, Bar Ilan is Hebrew U's equal in Medieval Halakhah and a fortiori History of Halakhah.

5:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i hope it encourages not just students to go study there but also professors to cite it. I'm not a Talmudist but from a related field, and I never understand why American rabbinic scholarship barely engages the magnificent textual achievements of its Israeli counterparts (there are some exceptions, though I can only think of scholars with Israeli background, like Azzan Yadin or Moulie Vidas).

11:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

על אף נפלאותיו של החוג לתלמוד באוניברסיטה העברית, השמועה אומרת שאין תלמידים שנרשמו לתואר ראשון בשנה הבאה.
חבל.

10:40 AM  

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