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The Chinese-Jewish Conversation

Comparing the two cultures from antiquity to modernity

Mission

With a growing Chinese student population and strengthening ties to the Chinese community in New York City and China, Yeshiva University is positioned to play a key role in the increasingly important interface between Chinese and Jewish cultures. The Chinese-Jewish Conversation sponsors periodic seminars at YU by Chinese scholars, correlated with corresponding elements in Jewish tradition, as well as informal meetings of students, alumni, and other professionals to foster ties between the Chinese and Jewish communities in NYC and beyond.

 

Aims 

  1. Increase mutual awareness between Chinese and Jewish communities and cultures
  2. Provide a welcome space for Chinese students at YU

Shared Challenges 

  1. Upholding core values, such as family and education
  2. Studying our classical texts, and understanding how they speak to us today
  3. Balancing traditional norms with modern life
  4. Relationship between “homeland” and “diaspora”—communities and individuals
Yeshiva University, Chinese Jewish Conversation
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People

Meet the CJC administrative team and advisory board, made up of scholars, students, and professionals in the USA, China and Israel, who seek to explore Chinese and Jewish cultures comparatively.

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People

Meet the CJC administrative team and advisory board, made up of scholars, students, and professionals in the USA, China and Israel, who seek to explore Chinese and Jewish cultures comparatively.

Confucius
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Contemporary guidance from ancient philosophers

Exploration of New Confucianism by special guest Prof. Roger Ames, Beijing University. Introduction by Mordechai Cohen on the eternal strength of traditional Jewish values. Student testimonial by Shun Shuangguan, Yeshiva University. Post-lecture interview with Roger Ames and Mordechai Cohen on Chinese and Jewish education, the status of women, and a Chinese perspective on Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. 

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The riches of archaeology: Biblical and Chinese

Introduction to the Chinese-Jewish Conversation by Mordechai Cohen (YU). Presentation by Dr. Jill Katz (YU) on the emergence of the state in ancient Israel. Key note speaker Debby Li of New York University on the interpretation of findings at 3 key archaeological sites from the Xia dynasty. Follow-up interviews with Debby Li and Rebecca Zami, MA student at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies: What it’s like for young Chinese and Jewish archaeologists to each explore their material heritage.

Green globe
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Ecological values from antiquity to modernity.

Mordechai Cohen on the biblical shemitta precept. Dr. Rachel Ofer of Efrata College on nature and the natural world in modern Hebrew art, literature and music. Special guest Prof. Daniel Gardner of Smith College, interviewed by Elena Peng, on the modern Chinese vision of an ecological society and its roots in the classical sources. 

Confucius with students
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Confucius and Ezra: Spiritual leadership in times of crisis

Explore how these near contemporaries in the ancient world faced the religious and political challenges of their times. Lecture by Mordechai Cohen. Key note speaker, Prof. Annping Chin of Yale University. Introduction about Jewish and Chinese cultural values by YU Provost Selma Botman, and about modernity vs. antiquity by Guilherme Albieri, Vice President of Student Affairs, SUNY. 

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East meets West: Jewish studies in China

Lecture by special guest, Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Nagen of Otniel Rabbinical College, introduced by Mordechai Cohen. Musical introduction by Bihan Li of Julliard School of Music: Chinese and Western Music. Interview with Prof. Youde Fu of the Shandong University Center for Judaic and Inter-religious Studies. 

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