Peter Schäfer: The Origins of Jewish Mysticism
Discussion with the Author, Christoph Markschies, and Micha Brumlik (audio recording available, in German)
What is Jewish mysticism before the Kabbalah? Peter Schäfer, Professor of Judaic Studies at Princeton University, has written the first comprehensive history of early Jewish mysticism from the biblical book of Ezekiel to the so-called chariot mysticism at the end of the first millennium.
Schäfer has thus closed a research gap in his consideration of the Hebrew Bible, the apocalyptic literature, the Qumran sect, Philo of Alexandria, and rabbinic literature. Furthermore, the book considers the teachings on the ancient human desire to get close to God.
A cooperation with Suhrkamp Publishers / Verlag der Weltreligionen.
Audio recording of the talk by Peter Schäfer, Christoph Markschies, and Micha Brumlik, in German; Jewish Museum Berlin 2012
Audio Recordings: Listen to Past Museum Events (64)
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Listen to Past Museum Events
Lectures, book presentations, theatrical readings, panel discussions, and award ceremonies
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World History in Berlin
The Humboldt Brothers and the Jewish Enlightenment, with Uta Lohmann, Sebastian Panwitz, and Conrad Wiedemann, Humboldt researchers, in German
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30 Oct 2019 -
Antisemitism Today – A Challenge for School and Society
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21 Feb 2019 -
Katharina Galor: The Temple Mount
Archaeologist Katharina Galor talks about the historical and archaeological heritage of Jerusalem’s most controversial site – the Temple Mount (Har haBait)
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9 Jan 2019 -
Stolen Judaica
Provenance Research in Israel and GermanyIn this symposium, research that explores the origins of Jewish ceremonial objects exclusively in Israel and Germany, took center stage for the first time, in German and English
Conference
18/19 Jun 2018 -
Rechavia – Grunewald in the Orient
Reading with Thomas Sparr on German-Jewish Jerusalem, in German
Reading/Discussion
28 Feb 2018 -
A Canon of Jewish Renaissance
Bernhard Jensen, author of the first monograph about the Soncino Society in conversation with publisher Thedel von Wallmoden, in German
Discussion
22 Feb 2018 -
Jerusalem for Cowards
Discussion with filmmakers Dalia Castel and Orit Nahmias following the screening of Jerusalem for Cowards
Discussion
19 Feb 2018 -
Who is carrying the Menorah?
Talk by Steven Fine on Jewish Counter-Histories of the Arch of Titus Spoils Panel
Lecture/Discussion
8 Feb 2018 -
The Many Deaths of Jew Süss
Reading with Yair Mintzker on Joseph Süß Oppenheimer – Jew Süss
Reading/Discussion
22 Jan 2018 -
Germanija. How I Became an Adult and a Jew in Germany
Reading and discussion on Dmitrij Belkin’s narrative that also throws light on immigration today, in German
Reading/Discussion
19 Oct 2017 -
IN-/EXCLUSIONS and Self-Empowerment in the Cultural Business
With Max Czollek, Dan Thy Nguyen, Sandrine Micossé-Aikins, and Mutlu Ergün-Hamaz, in German
Panel Discussion
12 Oct 2017 -
Volk, Volksgemeinschaft, AfD (People, National Community, AfD)
Book presentation and discussion with Alexander Häusler and the author Michael Wildt, in German
Reading/Discussion
10 Oct 2017 -
Incredibly Clever
Iris Berben reads Paula Buber, in German and English
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5 Aug 2017 -
Before the After Party
Reading and talk with the author Molly Antopol, translator Patricia Klobusiczky and actor Katharina Marie Schubert, in German and English
Reading/Discussion
15 Jul 2017 -
Life Pictures. Classical Archaeologists and National Socialism
Gunnar Brands and Martin Maischberger discuss the spectrum of possible behaviors of scientists under the auspices of totalitarian regimes, in German
Discussion
10 Jul 2017 -
Yousef Abad
Eliz Sanasarian and Elham Rokni on video art by Elham Rokni and the situation of Jews in Iran from the 1979 revolution to today
Discussion
6 Jul 2017 -
The New Völkerwanderung. Book Presentation by Asfa Wossen Asserate
Asfa-Wossen Asserate presents his latest book Die neue Völkerwanderung (The New Völkerwanderung) on the grievances of the EU’s Africa policy, in German
Reading/Discussion
3 Jul 2017 -
Peter Schäfer – “Two Gods in Heaven. Concepts of God in the Ancient Jewish World”
Peter Schäfer and Michael Wolffsohn on monotheism in Judaism and Christianity and concepts of a second god, in German
Discussion
12 Jun 2017 -
With Karamba to the Bundestag – My Journey from Senegal to the German Parliament
Karamba Diaby tells of his birth country Senegal, of life in the GDR, his work in the Bundestag, and of his vision of an open and future-oriented society, in German
Reading/Discussion
1 Jun 2017 -
Ariel Sabar: My Father’s Paradise: A Son’s Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq
Reading and talk with the writer Ariel Sabar on the story of his father Yona Sabar, professor of the Neo-Aramaic language, and the Kurdish-Jewish history
Lecture/Discussion
11 May 2017 -
The Dress of the Unfaithful Wife
Artist Talk and Discussion on Women and Sexuality in JudaismTalk with Andi LaVine Arnovitz, Amy K. Milligan, Professor for Jewish Studies and Women's Studies, and Emily D. Bilski, art historian, on the role of women in religious Judaism
Discussion
9 May 2017 -
Israelis in Germany
Ideological Debates and Changing IdentitiesTalk and Slideshow with Dr. Dani Kranz and Katja Harbi from the University of Wuppertal on Israeli Jews in today’s Germany, in German
Lecture/Discussion
4 May 2017 -
Im/Possibilities – Perspectives on Refugee Participation
Conference on the situation for refugees in Europe and Germany. Recording of the opening event with a talk by Gurminder K Bhambra, Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, UK, followed by a panel discussion, in German and English
Symposium
29 Mar 2017 -
Our Father: A Sinti Family Recounts
Conversation and reading with the German-Sinti civil rights activist and author Anita Awosusi and her daughter Tayo Onutor about their family’s history, in German
Reading/Concert
23 Mar 2017 -
Europe Against the Jews. 1880-1945
Historian Götz Aly and Daniel Cohn-Bendit discuss antisemitism in Eastern and Western Europe from 1880 to the present, in German
Discussion
22 Feb 2017 -
The Acid Test. How Fear of Foreigners is Threatening our Democracy
The Islamic studies and education scholar Lamya Kaddor reads from her book and discusses integration with Minister of State Aydan Özoğuz and Andreas Zick, in German
Reading/Discussion
16 Feb 2017 -
Gottes Körper (God's Body)
Christoph Markschies in conversation with Peter Schäfer about Christian conceptions of God and their roots in other ancient religions, in German
Discussion
13 Feb 2017 -
All Sorts of Stories
The actor Johanna Wokalek reads from Bertha Pappenheim’s German translation of the Maase book, a collection of Yiddish stories, fairy tales, and legends, in German
Reading/Discussion
21 Nov 2016 -
Joshua Cohen: You want a golem?
Reading and conversation with Joshua Cohen and Caspar Battegay about the golem myth in the age of automation
Reading/Discussion
17 Nov 2016 -
A Jew in Neukölln – My Path to Coexistence of Religions
The theology student and writer Ármin Langer reads from his book and talks about Jewish life in Neukölln, in German
Reading/Discussion
19 Oct 2016 -
The Clay Giant's Alive!
Held on 8 and 9 October. A musical reading with the author Anke Kuhl, plus a visit to the golem workshop, for children aged 5 and older, in German
Reading/Concert
8 Oct 2016 -
Reading with Christian Berkel: Tevye the Dairyman
To mark the 100th anniversary of Sholem Alejchem’s death, the actor Christian Berkel will read from the new translation of the book Tevye the Dairyman
Reading/Discussion
9 Jul 2016 -
Herzl reloaded – It’s No Fairytale
Staged reading. Doron Rabinovici, writer and historian, and Natan Sznaider, sociologist, have a fictional email correspondence with Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, in German
Reading/Discussion
7 Jul 2016 -
Ludwig Haas – A Left-liberal Campaigner for Peace and Democracy
Symposium with Evening Lecture by Gerhart Baum on the liberal Campaigner Ludwig Haas (1875–1930) and Perspectives of Left-wing Liberalism Today
Symposium
9 Jun 2016 -
The Holocaust and the Problem of Visual Representation
Talk with artist and exhibition curator Peter Weibel about Boris Lurie and visual representation of the Holocaust, in German
Lecture/Discussion
30 May 2016 -
Helga Krohn: Bruno Asch
Reading and talk with Helga Krohn on the local politician and socialist Bruno Asch
Reading/Discussion
19 May 2016 -
Angst ums Abendland (Fears For the West)
Book Presentation with Daniel BaxTalk with Daniel Bax and Gideon Botsch on Right-wing populist parties, anti-Muslim sentiments, flight and asylum, in German
Discussion
6 Apr 2016 -
Béla Guttmann - The World History of Football in one Person
The writer Detlev Claussen presents his book about the Hungarian-Jewish soccer coach Béla Guttmann, in German
Reading/Discussion
4 Aug 2015 -
Attempts to Describe Anti-Semitism
Book presentation and discussion on the history of antisemitism research before 1944 with Hans-Joachim Hahn, Olaf Kistenmacher, Dr. Werner Treß, and Franziska Krah, in German
Reading/Discussion
22 Apr 2015 -
From a Berlin Farce to a Story of Success
The writer Daniel Bussenius talks with Inka Bertz and Heinrich Wefing, reporter from Die Zeit, about the museum’s development from 1971 to 2001, in German
Reading/Discussion
2 Mar 2015 -
The Realignment of “Education after Auschwitz” in Immigration Society
Book presentation and panel discussion with the author Rosa Fava, Angela Kühner (University of Frankfurt), Selman Erkovan, history teacher in training, and Marco Kühnert, a guide at the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial, Hamburg, in German
Reading/Discussion
27 Jan 2015 -
The Book of Job. Aesthetics, Ethics, Hermeneutics
The editors of a volume of essays about the Book of Job, Leora Batnitzky (Princeton) and Ilana Pardes (Jerusalem), in conversation with Vivian Liska, in German and English
Reading/Discussion
21 Jan 2015 -
What’s your "Heimat"?
W. Michael Blumenthal, Founding Director of the Jewish Museum Berlin, and Monika Grütters, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, talk about culture, religion, and being at home in a foreign place, in German
Discussion
14 Nov 2014 -
Zimzum. God and the creation of the world
Author Christoph Schulte talks with Micha Brumlik and Vivian Liska about his book on the notion of zimzum (tzimtzum) in Jewish mysticism, in German
Reading/Discussion
30 Oct 2014 -
Hebrew Worlds – On the Presence of Ancient Texts in Modern Ivrith
Anne Birkenhauer, a translator and the August Wilhelm Schlegel Guest Professor of the German Translation Fund and the FU Berlin, gives her inaugural lecture, in German
Lecture/Discussion
27 Oct 2014 -
Forgotten Soldiers?
Historian Tim Grady presents his research on the commemoration of German-Jewish soldiers from the First World War
Lecture/Discussion
3 Sep 2014 -
Modernized, then Tolerated?
Micha Brumlik, Petra Bahr, Kadir Sanci, and Thomas Bauer about religion and navigating between tradition and adaptation, in German
Discussion
10 Oct 2013 -
1933: Denial, Opposition, and Protest
Wolf Gruner about his research into German Jews’ responses to Nazi persecution, in German
Lecture/Discussion
8 Aug 2013 -
Peter Schäfer: The Origins of Jewish Mysticism
Panel discussion between the author Peter Schäfer, Christoph Markschies, and Micha Brumlik about Schäfer’s book on the history of early Jewish mysticism, in German
Reading/Discussion
25 Jun 2012 -
The History of Jews and Dönme in Turkey
The Turkish studies scholar Corry Guttstadt and the historian Marc Baer discuss the history of Jews and Dönme (converts) in Turkey, in German
Lecture/Discussion
31 Jan 2011 -
Perrine Simon-Nahum: Jews in France Today
Talk by Perrine Simon-Nahum about her book on the circumstances of Jews in France, both past and present
Lecture/Discussion
29 Nov 2010 -
W. Michael Blumenthal: Around the World in Eighty Years. My Life
W. Michael Blumenthal, Founding Director of the Jewish Museum Berlin, presents his memoir, in German
Reading/Discussion
30 Sept 2010 -
Jewish Youth Movement in Germany
Talk by Ulrike Pilarczyk and panel discussion with Micha Brumlik, Hans Jakob Ginsburg, Stefanie Schüler-Springorum, and Moshe Zuckermann about the history of the Zionist youth movement in Germany, in German
Lecture/Discussion
22 May 2010 -
Dialogues on Jewish Present: On the Question of Redemption – Messianism and the End of Days
with Moshe Idel, Elliot R. Wolfson, and Micha Brumlik about the Messianic promise of redemption and its relevance in the twenty-first century, in English
Reading/Discussion
10 Dec 2009 -
Walther Rathenau’s Life: Text and Context
Talk by Shulamit Volkov about the life of the writer, politician, and industrialist Walther Rathenau, in German
Lecture/Discussion
15 Oct 2009 -
Migrants Moving History
Saskia Sassen about immigration, diversity, and future prospects for dealing with history and citizenship in multiethnic societies
Lecture/Discussion
25 Oct 2008 -
Self Displaced Person. Peter Szondi’s Problematic Judaism
Talk by Andreas Isenschchmid about the life and work of the literary scholar Peter Szondi, in German
Lecture/Discussion
3 Dec 2007 -
Painted in words. The portrait of a lost time
Reading and conversation with the artist Samuel Bak about his family’s story and his survival as a child in German-occupied Vilnius, in German
Reading/Discussion
10 Oct 2007 -
A synagogue curtain at the Brandenburg Cathedral Chapter
Talk by Vera Bendt about a synagogue curtain that was discovered at the Brandenburg Cathedral Chapter, where it had been listed in records as an altar curtain, in German
Lecture/Discussion
23 Nov 2006 -
Exile in Shanghai
Conversation between W. Michael Blumenthal and Horst Eisfelder about the time they both spent in Shanghai, where 18,000 Jews from Germany had taken refuge, in German
Discussion
14 Nov 2006 -
The place of psychoanalysis in the history of the Jews
Talk by Eli Zaretsky about the influence of psychoanalysis on Judaism and the place of psychoanalysis in Jewish history
Lecture/Discussion
30 May 2005 -
Breaking Ground: Adventures in Life and Architecture
In conversation with Susanne Weingarten, Daniel Libeskind presents his autobiography
Reading/Discussion
25 Jan 2005 -
The Fragile Foundation: The Quest for German-Jewish “Normalcy”
Salomon Korn reads essays from his book about Jewish life in Germany, Jewish culture and remembrance, architecture, and politics, in German
Reading/Discussion
30 Sep 2003 -
Times of Commemoration: On Jewish Histories and Others
Book presentation by the historian Dan Diner about remembering the twentieth century as an era of violence, forced displacement, and genocide, in German
Reading/Discussion
24 Jun 2003
