About this event

This talk will highlight two instances of the intellectual production of Jewish scholars and their close collaboration with Christian scholars in England in past centuries.

The first concerns the diverse cultural activities of the medieval Anglo-Jewish community before their expulsion in 1290, including the production of dictionaries and commentaries, some of which employed Anglo-Norman glosses written in Hebrew letters (i.e., Judeo-French).

The second focuses on the collaboration between Jewish and Christian scribes in the creation of bilingual Bibles as part of early Christian Hebraism. It will also consider the wide range of interest and curiosity among English scholars regarding Jewish learning in pre-expulsion England and, later, from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Following the return of the Jews to England, this interest included active collaboration with the Jewish community—both rabbis and lay leaders—who participated in major intellectual projects led by scholars such as John Selden, Edward Pococke, and Benjamin Kennicott.

This event is part of Jewish Culture Month

Speakers

Professor Judith Olszowy-Schlanger, Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies and Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford 

Dr César Merchán-Hamann, Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies and Bodleian Libraries

Event information

• This event takes place in person in the Sir Victor Blank Lecture Theatre at the Weston Library.
• The Weston Library is wheelchair accessible. Find out more about accessibility at our site.
• Please note: only bottled water is permitted in the lecture theatre. No food or other drinks are allowed.