Just before the Jewish New Year, the Katz Center community suffered a deeply upsetting loss with the sudden passing of one of its board members, Howard Reiter. The Katz Center wishes to convey its deepest condolences to Howard’s wife Jody, their four children, and the many family members and friends left heart-broken by his passing.
JQR 111.2 is now available, online* and in print.
In this issue:
Ayelet Hoffman Libson argues that the Tosefta’s novel institution of blessings over commandments served a legal and political function, denoting legal personhood and delineating the borders of the community.
It is with tremendous excitement that we announce the incoming fellows for the 2021–2022 academic year, focusing on the theme of Rethinking Premodern Jewish Legal Cultures. These scholars bring expertise in law, drawing on a range of methodologies and evidence bases, and covering space and time from ancient Mesopotamia though medieval Sefarad and early modern Germany. Chosen from a particularly competitive pool of applicants, the incoming fellows hail from Israel, Western Europe, Brazil, Canada, and the US.
JQR 111.1 is now available, online* and in print.
In this issue:
The University of Pennsylvania Libraries is pleased to announce that Emily Esten has been named the inaugural Arnold and Deanne Kaplan Collection of Early American Judaica Curator of Digital Humanities.
We are delighted to announce that Ilan Stavans, of Amherst College, the internationally known scholar, writer, editor, translator, playwright, cultural critic, publisher, teacher, lexicographer, columnist, journalist, travel writer, biographer, actor, TV and radio host, has donated to the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, the Ilan Stavans Collection of Jewish Latin American History, Culture, and Literature.
After more than thirty years, finance and administration manager Sam Cardillo is saying farewell to the Katz Center.
It is with great sadness that we inform you of the death of Former Trustee Ione Apfelbaum Strauss, CW’54, PAR’82. Ione became a Penn leader at a crucial point in our University’s history, and her service helped open doors for the generations of volunteers that would one day follow. She will be deeply missed, and we offer our sincere condolences to her family and friends, especially her daughter Louise, C’82.
The Katz Center mourns the recent passing of Ione Apfelbaum Strauss (CW’54), who, in addition to her leadership as a university trustee, SAS overseer and president of Penn’s alumni association, was also instrumental in the creation of the Katz Center, as a supporter, advisor and as the chair of its board.