Join us for soulful and song-filled Shabbat morning services, followed by a delicious Shabbat lunch and stimulating learning! Our guest this time is Prof. Alan Verskin, who'll be speaking on the topic: "Maimonides & the Identity Crisis of a Jew by Choice"
Lunch registration required by Friday, July 25 at 12 noon.
Services don't require registration – no need to register if you're not staying for lunch!
Become a Makom Member first and save 10%.
Supervised childcare will be provided in Makom's playroom during services.
---
Professor Alan Verskin, "Maimonides & the Identity Crisis of a Jew by Choice":
The Middle Ages were famously a time of forced conversions of Jews to other religions, but less well known are the instances of conversion to Judaism. Rabbi Moses Maimonides, who himself may have lived for a time as a Muslim, was deeply interested in the ramifications of conversion, both for the converts themselves and for the communities which they joined. In this talk, we’ll discuss both Maimonides’ legal theory about how to treat converts to Judaism and his correspondence with one particular convert named Obadiah, who asked for Maimonides’ help in navigating his conversion and crisis of identity.
Bio:
Alan Verskin is the Samuel J. Zacks Chair of Jewish History at the University of Toronto. His areas of research include religious, legal, and social history in both Jewish and Islamic contexts, from the middle ages through the nineteenth century. He is particularly interested in travel, translation, and the migration of ideas between religious communities. He is also interested in intellectual responses to religious persecution and minorityhood. What unites and connects all of these areas is an emphasis on paying attention to the first-person stories of those whose perspectives have been marginalized.
