Jewish-Islamic Forum
Thematic Focus of the W. Michael Blumenthal Academy, 2012–20
With its events, our Jewish-Islamic Forum strives to reach both a general audience and professionals in academia and government. The Forum's focal points are the circumstances of Jews and Muslims as minorities in Germany and the history of their fluctuating relationship. It pursues questions of religious practice and the philosophy of religion, such as the tension between tradition and modernity in both Judaism and Islam. Additionally, the Forum concerns itself with the impact of the conflicts in the Middle East on German society.
Where
W. M. Blumenthal Academy
Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
Postal address: Lindenstraße 9-14, 10969 Berlin
A Comparative Perspective on Judaism and Islam
In particular, the Forum aims to reveal commonalities between Judaism and Islam through a comparative perspective without neglecting the unique attributes of each. With these efforts, we hope to counteract the frequent tendency to frame them as starkly oppositional. The Jewish-Islamic Forum also hosts events that complement our museum's temporary exhibitions, building a bridge between the Academy and the Museum.
Dialogical Lecture Series: Kosher to Go – Perspectives on Religious Food Regulations (5)
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Kosher to Go – Perspectives on Religious Food Regulations
In the dialogical lecture series, Jewish dietary laws are considered in relation to the dietary rules of other world religions (Christianity, Hinduism, Islam) and interpreted using perspectives from anthropology, ethnology, and the sociology of food. In this way, the origins and functions of dietary rules are examined up to the present day.
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The Kitchen as a Substitute Sanctuary? Modern Debates Around Eating
With Kathrin Burger (science journalist and author) and Jonathan Schorsch (University of Potsdam)
Video Recording
25 Nov 2021 -
Do you eat Insects? – Forbidden Animals In Judaism and Hinduism
With Dr. Syed (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich) and Dr. Mattern (University of Tübingen), in German
Video Recording
30 Sep 2021 -
Between Sanction and Sanctification – Alcohol in Judaism and Christianity
With Jordan D. Rosenblum (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and David Grumett (University of Edinburgh), in German
Video Recording
22 Jun 2021 -
Kosher and Halal – Animal Slaughter in Judaism and Islam
With Aaron S. Gross (University of San Diego) and Serdar Kurnaz (Humboldt University of Berlin), in German
Video Recording
19 May 2021 -
Holy Food and Drink – Why Do Dietary Rules Exist?
With Prof. Kikuko Kashiwagi-Wetzel (Kansai University von Osaka) and Prof. David Kraemer (Jewish Theological Seminary of America), in English and German
Video Recording
22 Apr 2021
Lecture Series 2019/20: The Others’ Faith (6)
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The Others’ Faith
This lecture series explores the complex relationship of Judaism and Islam to the other religions. Two researchers are invited to each event who present the topic from Jewish and Islamic perspectives and enter into dialog with each other.
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On the Path to Enlightenment: Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism
With Jerome Gellman (Ben-Gurion University) und Johan Elverskog (Southern Methodist University)
Video Recording
24 Sep 2020 -
Tying the Knot versus Bonds with God: Jews and Muslims in Interfaith Marriages
With Madeleine Dreyfus (psychoanalyst with a doctorate in cultural anthropology) und Imen Gallala-Arndt (lawyer and a lecturer at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology), in German
Video Recording
18 Jun 2020 -
Non-Transcendental Morality: Judaism, Islam, and Atheism
With Jacques Berlinerblau (Georgetown University) and Ufuk Topkara (Johns Hopkins University), in German and English
Video Recording
20 Apr 2020 -
What Do You Think about Jesus? Judaism, Islam, and Christianity
With Israel Yuval (Hebrew University in Jerusalem) and Maha El Kaisy-Friemuth (Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg), in German and English
Video Recording
18 Feb 2020 -
Mono or Poly? Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism
With Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein (Elijah Interfaith Institute) and Reza Shah-Kazemi (Institute of Ismaili Studies in London)
Video Recording
4 Feb 2020 -
Judaism and Islam – The History of Theological Relations
With Lukas Mühlethaler (Free University Berlin) and Imam Abdullah Antepli (Duke University, USA), in German and English
Video Recording
21 Nov 2019
Lecture Series 2018/19: Science and Faith in Judaism and Islam (5)
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Science and Faith in Judaism and Islam
Scientific discoveries in astronomy, geology, and biology over the past centuries have called into question the centrality of humans as the “crown of creation.”
Today, religious and scientific positions are often seen as irreconcilable. This lecture series sets out to explore the tensions and affinities between Judaism, Islam, and the sciences.
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Do You Believe in Miracles?
With James A. Diamond (Professor in Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada) and Umeyye Isra Yazicioglu (Professor in Religious Studies at St. Joseph’s University in Philidelphia, United States)
Video Recording
13 Jun 2019 -
Humanity: Between Destiny and Free Will
With Alan Mittleman (Jewish Theological Seminary of America) and Martin Mahmud Kellner (Institute of Islamic Theology, Osnabrück)
Video Recording
30 Apr 2019 -
How Much God Is in the Holy Scriptures?
With Benjamin Sommer (expert in modern Jewish theology) and Ghassan el Masri (researcher on the Koran in the context of the Arabic literature of his time), in German and English
Video Recording
5 Mar 2019 -
God, Darwin, and Evolution
With Natan Slifkin (Biblical Museum of Natural History, Beit Shemesh, Israel) and Fatimah Jackson (Howard University, USA)
Video Recording
31 Jan 2019 -
Science in the Light of Faith
With Geoffrey A. Mitelman (Sinai and Synapses) and Ahmad S. Dallal (Georgetown University, Qatar)
Video Recording
20 Nov 2018
Lecture Series 2017/18: Jewish and Islamic Perspectives on Human Rights (6)
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Jewish and Islamic Perspectives on Human Rights
Our lecture series addresses controversial human rights topics arising in various walks of life and examines them from Jewish and Islamic perspectives. For every lecture, we invite two scholars who present their own positions and then engage in a dialogue.
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My God, Your God, No God
With Leora Batnitzky (Princeton University) and Anver Emon (University of Toronto)
Video Recording
14 Jun 2018 -
Equal before God and Humans?
With Susannah Heschel (Dartmouth College) and Katajun Amirpur (University of Hamburg)
Video Recording
3 May 2018 -
How Much Criticism Do Judaism and Islam Tolerate?
With Suzanne Last Stone (Yeshiva University) and Anshuman Mondal (University of East Anglia), in English and German
Video Recording
12 Apr 2018 -
The Right to Life
With David Novak (University of Toronto) and Jonathan Brown (Georgetown University)
Video Recording
8 Mar 2018 -
Human Rights Treaties and How They are Received
With Michael Galchinsky (Georgia State University) and Mashood Baderin (University of London)
Video Recording
25 Jan 2018 -
Human Rights and Religions – A Contradiction?
With Shaheen Sardar Ali (University of Warwick) and Jill Jacobs (Rabbi and the Managing Director of T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights)
Video Recording
23 Nov 2017
Lecture Series 2016/17: Ethical Questions in Judaism and Islam (with video recordings) (6)
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Ethical Questions in Judaism and Islam (with video recordings)
The lecture series explored contentious ethical issues from diverse aspects of life and shed light on them from Jewish and Islamic perspectives. Two guest scholars gave each lecture, presented their tradition’s position, and engaged in a mutual dialogue.
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Man as Lord or Guardian of Creation?
With Hava Tirosh-Samuelson (Arizona State University in Tempe) and Nawal Ammar (Rowan University in New Jersey), in German and English
Video Recording
13 Jul 2017 -
Sexual Ethics: Sexuality, Lust, Eroticism, and God
With David Biale (Eros and the Jews) and Kecia Ali (Sexual Ethics and Islam), in German and English
Video Recording
16 May 2017 -
Military Ethics: The (Religious) Laws Silent Beneath the Weapons?
With Michael Broyde (Emory University) and Asma Afsaruddin (Indiana University), in German and English
Video Recording
6 Apr 2017 -
The Boundaries of Life - Bioethical Challenges
With Laurie Zoloth (Weinberg College, Northwestern University) and İlhan İlkılıç (University of Istanbul), in German and English
Video Recording
23 Feb 2017 -
Business Ethics – Is Capitalism Kosher/Halal?
With Nathan Lee Kaplan (author) and Idris Nassery (University of Paderborn), in German
Video Recording
8 Dec 2016 -
Social Ethics – On Fair Social Order
With Ingrid Mattson (Western University, Canada) and Micha Brumlik (Berlin-Brandenburg Center of Jewish Studies), in German and English
Video Recording
26 Oct 2016
Lecture Series 2015/16: Judaism & Islam in the Diaspora (5)
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Judaism & Islam in the Diaspora
Video recordings of the series of panel discussions explored topical questions that Jews and Muslims in the diaspora confront in their everyday religious practice. Each event featured two academics presenting the Jewish and Islamic perspectives.
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What Does Diaspora Mean for Jews and Muslims?
With Michael L. Satlow (Brown University, Providence) and Sarah Albrecht (Free University Berlin), in German and English
Video Recording
29 Oct 2015 -
Religious Law and Secular State
With Ronen Reichman (Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg) and Mathias Rohe (Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg), in German
Video Recording
9 Dec 2015 -
Becoming a Jew, Becoming a Muslim
With Tobias Jona Simon (Rabbi of the Association of Jewish Communities in Lower Saxony) and Esra Özyürek (London School of Economics), in German and English
Video Recording
18 Feb 2016 -
Feminist Approaches to Judaism and Islam
With Judith Plaskow (religious scholar and author) and Ziba Mir-Hosseini, researcher on Islamic law and gender, in English
Video Recording
14 Apr 2016 -
Organic Meets Kosher and Halal
With Shai Lavi (Tel Aviv University) and Sarra Tlili (University of Florida), in English
Video Recording
1 Jun 2016
Audio Recordings of the Series: Between Marrakesh and Mashhad: Jews in Islamic Countries (2)
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Between Marrakesh and Mashhad: Jews in Islamic Countries
Audio recordindgs from the film and reading series Between Marrakesh and Mashhad of the Jewish-Islamic Forum of the Academy programs on the past and present of Jewish lives in different countries of North Africa and the Middle East.
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Yousef Abad
Video art by the Israeli-Iranian artist Elham Rokni & Eliz Sanasarian and Elham Rokni on video art by Elham Rokni and the situation of Jews in Iran from the 1979 revolution to today
Audio Recording
6 Jul 2017 -
My Father’s Paradise: A Son’s Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq
Reading and discussion with the author Ariel Sabar
Audio Recording
11 May 2017
