Center for Israel Studies-Yeshiva University

News and Events

The Arch of Titus Project

From June 5-7, 2012, an international team of scholars organized by the YU Center for Israel Studies assembled at the Arch of Titus and scanned the bas reliefs for evidence of its ancient colors. For more information, click here:

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CIS at the Metropolitan Museum of Art!

Members of the CIS community were deeply involved in a groundbreaking Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition, Byzantium and Islam Age of Transition, 600-900 , March 14-July 8, 2012

-Fragment from the ancient Synagogue at Ashkelon. 4th-7th century. Stone. Deutsches Evangelisches Institut, Jerusalem. One of the objects that appeared in Byzantium and Islam

See the YU News coverage of the CIS' participation Byzantium and Islam below:

- "Contextualizing a Culture" (May 15, 2012)

- "YU Meets the Met" (March 14, 2012)

- "Byzantium and Islam Behind the Scenes Tours" (April 29, 2012)

About the Exhibition

The Eastern Mediterranean, from Syria across North Africa, comprised the wealthy southern provinces of the Byzantine Empire at the start of the seventh century. By that century's end, the region was central to the emerging Islamic world. This exhibition will be the first to display the complex character of the region and its exceptional art and culture during the era of transition—from its role as part of the Byzantine state to its evolving position in the developing Islamic world. The dialogue between established Byzantine and evolving Islamic styles and culture will be shown through images of authority, religion, and especially commerce. Iconoclasm as it emerged during that period among the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic communities of the region will be addressed.

Steven Fine, director of the Center for Israel Studies, wrote a major catalog entry, "Jews and Judaism between Byzantium and Islam," and was instrumental in the choice and interpretation of artifacts that illustrate the Jewish experience at this important crossroads. He presented the Jewish artifacts at a symposium for scholars at the Met.

Fine and Schwartz at work in the Israel Studies office

-Dr. Fine and Mr.Schwartz at work

CIS Programming and Tours

Dr. Fine delivered a major lecture at the Met, "Jews and Samaritans in an Age of Transition," which wass open to the general public, on Sunday, March 18, 2012. For further information, visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art's website for the exhibition. Yitzchak Schwartz (YC 2011), Research Associate and Coordinator at the CIS, has spent the last year as a Met intern in the Department of Medieval Art working on this exhibition, co-writing a number of catalog entries with Professor Fine.

Dr. Fine and Mr. Schwartz led special Behind the Scenes Tours of Byzantium and Islam for the YU community, for YU students on Sunday, May 6, 2012, and for faculty and staff on Wednesday, May , 2012.

Joint Metropolitan Museum of Art and CIS Conference

The YU Center for Israel Studies co-sponsored Perspectives on Byzantium and Islam, an international conference at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on Tuesday, March 20, 2012. For more on the program, see the Perspectives on Byzantium and Islam website. See below for full the full program and schedule:

Perspectives on Byzantium and Islam:

Noted scholars expand on issues related to perceptions on the use of images in works related to the time frame of the exhibition Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition.

An international conference at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,

Tuesday, March 20, 1:00–4:00 p.m.

The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium Show

- Tenth century decorative "Carpet page" from a Biblical codex. Pigment and gold leaf on parchment. Firkovich Compilation, National Library of Russia, St. Petersberg.
Firkovich Carpet Page

1:00 p.m.
The Destruction of Images in Eighth-Century Palestine
Robert Edwin Schick, Research Fellow, American Center of Oriental Research, Amman, Jordan

1:30 p.m.
Untidy History: The Cairo Geniza Documents and Inter-Confessional Contacts
Arnold E. Franklin, Assistant Professor of History, Queens College, The City University of New York

2:00 p.m.
Images in the Heartland and Images in the Southern Periphery of the Byzantine Empire
Gabriele Mietke, Curator for Byzantine Art, Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin—Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

2:30 p.m.
Transmission of Images in the Mediterranean
Annie Labatt, Chester Dale Fellow, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

3:00 p.m.
New Interpretations of the Entrance Facade at Qasr al-Mshatta, Jordan
Claus-Peter Haase, Director Emeritus, Museum für Islamische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin—Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, and Honorary Professor of Islamic Art and Archaeology, Freie Universität Berlin

All symposia are free with Museum admission; reservations and tickets are not required. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

This program is made possible by gifts in honor of Froso Beys and by Mr. and Mrs. John Bilimatsis.

This program is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yeshiva University Center for Israel Studies.
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August, 2012:

Folktales of Israel Videos Now Online!

Enjoy footage from our Fall 2011 conference Folktales of Israel: A Festival Honoring Professor Peninnah Schram, now available online:

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Sunday, April 22:

Religious Zionism in America: A Yom Iyyun Honoring Professors Bernard Rosensweig and Sol Roth

The CIS invites the YU community and the public to a Yom Iyyun exploring the history and thought of Religious Zionism in America. The Yom Iyyun will honor longtime YU Professors and leaders in the YU community Rabbi Dr. Bernard Rosensweig and Rabbi Dr. Sol Roth.

Religious Zionism in America
Sunday, April 22, 1:00 - 4:00 pm
Yeshiva University Wilf Campus,
Furst Hall 501

Speakers include:
Rabbi Yosef Blau, Mashgiach Ruchani, YU and RIETS
-"The Beginnings of American Religious Zionism: The Early Years of Mizrachi in America, 1903-1925"

Rabbi Shalom Carmy, Professor of Jewish Philosophy, YU
-"Art and Philosophy in Zionist Thought"

Dr. Jess Olson, Assistant Professor of Modern Jewish History, YU
-"The Agudah Comes to America: Misunderstandings and the creation of Politicized Orthodoxy"

Rabbi Dr. Michael Rosensweig, Rosh Yeshiva, YU and RIETS
-"Zionism in American Halakhic Writings"

For questions about the event, contact the CIS at israel.studies@yu.edu.

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Wednesday, April 18:

What is a Sephardi? Three Approaches from Contemporary Israel

A presentation by Dr. Joseph Ringel (Drew University)

Come learn about three different ways in which Sephardic rabbis in Israel are reviving and reinterpreting traditional Sephardic philosophy, poetry, methods of learning, and halakhic values, and find out how they are making them a leading force in Judaism today. Examine for yourselves new books and commentaries not widely available in the US, and be prepared for a lively and fun discussion!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 8:00 pm
Wilf Campus, Furst Hall 535

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Past YU News Coverage of CIS Events

The Center for Israel Studies hosts numerous conferences and seminars that are open to the public, and that bring together academic and political leaders around the world. Below are links to press coverage of some of our events:

The Temple of Jerusalem: From Moses to the Messiah

Israel and India: A Relationship Comes of Age

U.S.-Israel Relations in the Era of Obama and Netanyahu

Zionism on the Jewish Street: Urban Geography and Nationalism at the Turn of the 20th Century

Israel and Iran: From Cyrus the Great to the Islamic Republic

Talmuda De'Eretz Yisrael: Archaeology and the Rabbis in Late Antiquity

Michael Satlow Summary and Review of Talmuda De'Eretz Yisrael

Folktales of Israel: A Festival of Jewish Storytelling Honoring Professor Peninnah Schram

The Nathan And Solomon Birnbaum Family Archive