Maimonides and the Sciences
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2025 | 2 P.M. - 6 P.M.
Yeshiva University Museum, Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street, NYC
A Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies public conference, in memory of Professor Ron Birke.
Sponsored by his wife, Marilyn, and his children Susan Birke Fiedler, Mimi Klimberg, Jason Birke, and Nili Klenof
OPENING DEDICATION 2 P.M.
MIMI KLIMBERG
SESSION 1 I 2:15 P.M. – 3:15 P.M.
Chair: DR. JONATHAN DAUBER
DR. JEREMY BROWN, MD (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda MD)
The Surprising Influence of Maimonides’ Book on Poisons
DR. HAVA TIROSH SAMUELSON (Regents Professor of History, Irving
and Miriam Lowe Professor of Modern Judaism, Arizona State University)
Maimonides and the Science of Ecology: Nature, Law, and Virtue
SESSION 2 I 3:30 P.M. – 4:30 P.M.
Chair: DR. MARTIN KAUFMAN
DR. YEHUDA HALPER (Professor, Department of Jewish Philosophy,
Bar-Ilan University & Visiting Professor, Divinity School, University of Chicago)
New Ideas in Old Books: Maimonides on Scientific and Religious Commentaries
DR. ALEXANDER GREEN (Assistant Professor of Humanities, Hamilton
School for Classical and Civic Education, University of Florida).
The Moral Psychology of Maimonides’ Laws of Repentance
SESSION 3 I 4:45 P.M. – 5:30 P.M.
Keynote Address Chair: DR. DANIEL RYNHOLD
DR. ZEEV HARVEY (Professor Emeritus, Department of Jewish Thought,
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Why Was Natural Science so Important to Maimonides?
