Jewish Musar Across Time, Space, and Linguistic BoundariesDr. David Torollo, Erasmus+ Teaching Scheme

14. April 2025

The traditional Jewish genre of musar (wisdom and ethical literature) has been cultivated for centuries. Either in Hebrew or other Jewish languages, collections of exemplary tales, anthologies of proverbs, wisdom poems, and compilations of sayings of philosophers lay claim to authority because they aspire to teach values that are thought to be universally relevant. Indeed, this very belief about musar makes it suitable for translation across linguistic and religious divides.

Unfortunately, wisdom texts in Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic have received little scholarly attention. This neglect may have a twofold explanation: First, musar is a genre trapped between the religious and the secular, and between the oral and written cultures, which makes their analysis quite challenging; and second, moralistic works have, in many cases, been overshadowed by other, more ‘canonical’ works written by the same authors.

This seminar aims to bring to scholarly attention the academic possibilities of this genre in two sessions. The first one will focus on thirteenth-century Hebrew musar works developed in Provence, while the second session will explore Judeo-Arabic musar works that happen to be translations of earlier Hebrew works. Each session will consist of a brief theoretical and contextual introduction, followed by the reading of selected passages in the source language and English translation, and their analysis from a cultural viewpoint. Participants are welcome to join one and/or both sessions.

 

David Torollo is Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. His research focuses on the cultural interactions of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the medieval and early modern Mediterranean. His work explores the translation of wisdom texts among Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish, and Judeo-Arabic, as well as the linguistic and cultural aspects of these traditions.

 

Session I. Hebrew Musar

Monday, April 14 | 16:00–18:00

 

Session II. Judeo-Arabic Musar

Wednesday, April 16 | 12:00–14:00

 

Institute for Jewish Studies

Room C205 (2nd floor)

Jungiusstraße 11

20355 Hamburg

 

Information and registration (mandatory): ilaria.briata"AT"uni-hamburg.de