Pragmatism and Jewish Thought
Pragmatism and Jewish Thought
Workshop at Yale University
April 7-8, 2019
Organized by Nadav Berman S. and Paul Franks
Sponsored by the Judaic Studies Program, Yale University
Sunday, April 7
10:30 Gathering, light refreshments
11:00 | Introduction – Paul Franks (Yale)
11:30 | Keynote – Yonatan Y. Brafman (JTS) “Contingency and Critique: The Consequences of Neopragmatism for Modern Jewish Thought” | Chair: Kenneth Winkler (Yale)
13:00 – Lunch
14:00 | Bar Guzi (Brandeis), “Pragmatism, Naturalism, and Mysticism: Reflections on the Theology of Mordecai Kaplan” | Chair: Nancy Levene (Yale)
15:15 – Short break
15:30 | Nechama Juni (Brown), “Pragmatism and Halakhic Change: A Case Study of ‘Watched’ Milk” | Chair: Eliyahu Stern (Yale)
16:45 – Short break
17:00 | Elliot Ratzman (Lawrence), “Re-Reading Jewish Thought with the Pragmatist Hegel: The Case of Moses Hess” | Chair: Mordechai Levy-Eichel (Yale)
18:15 – Light Dinner for Participants
Monday, April 8
8:45 Gathering, light refreshments
9:00 | Keynote – Hannah E. Hashkes (Lindenbaum), “The Halakhic Decisor and Truth in a Community of Inquiry: Halakhic Authority as a Test Case” | Chair: Steven Fraade (Yale)
10:30 – Short break
10:45 | Randy L. Friedman (Binghamton), “Gods of Becoming” | Chair: John Pittard (Yale)
12:00 – Lunch
13:00 | Irit Offer Stark (NYU), “Fallibilism and the Principle of Pragmatism in Jewish Tradition: The Case of the Tension between Science and Halakhah” | Chair: Joseph David (Sapir)
14:15 – Short break
14:30 | Nadav Berman Shifman (Yale), “Anti-Gnosticism: Hans Jonas as a Jewish Pragmatist” | Chair: Paul Franks (Yale)
15:45 – Short break
16:00 | Ari Ackerman (Schechter), “Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Critique of Mordecai Kaplan and Deweyan Pragmatism” |Chair: Warren Zev Harvey (Hebrew University)
17:15 – Short concluding remarks
Light refreshments
Workshop location: 451 College Street, New Haven, CT, Room BO3
Registration for the workshop is free of charge but mandatory.
Please RSVP by April 4th at nadav.berman@yale.edu