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1. Reappointment
of Fellows: Reappointments for 3 years were agreed for Lucille
Cohen, Lionel Kochan, Irene Lancaster, Les Lancaster, Ephraim
Nissan and Reuven Silverman.
2. Teaching
Support: Dr Unterman had undertaken an additional course,
which the Centre supported. Support for other teaching, full-time
(Dr. Langton) and part-time (Dr Unterman and Dr. Kadish), was
provided from Faculty Teaching Replacement money, in relation
to Professor Alexander's current secondment as Associate Dean
(Research).
3. Student
Support:
a Lionel Black bursaries (MA): Two Lionel Black
bursaries were awarded for 04/05, one to a Spanish student,
the other to a local student. Only 4 students have enrolled
on the MA this year, a source of some concern.
b
PhD support: Support was provided for first year PhD fees for
a Polish student in 04/05; the Agunah Research Unit made its
first PhD studentship appointment wef Jan 04.
4.
Major Research Projects: see their respective web pages
a Agunah Research Unit: The Unit commenced operation
in January 2004, on the basis of funding from the Steinberg
Family Trust, the Harbour Trust, and the David Uri Memorial
Trust. Further funding has been obtained from the Hanadiv Foundation,
bringing the total to date to approx £68k. A recent application
to the Leverhulme Foundation has been successful at the outline
stage, and the full application is now being prepared. The funding
thus far supports one PhD studentship for 3 years and one part-time
Research Fellowship (Rabbi Dr Abel) for 18 months. The further
support is designed to extend the present Research Fellowship
and appoint a further full-time member of staff for 3 years.
The research agenda of the Unit is available from its web site
(www.mucjs.org/agunahunit.htm)
in the form of a 78-page paper by the Director, Prof. Jackson.
The team meets weekly to discuss the progress of the research,
which consists at present in a literature review and investigation
of the use (or non-use) by later authorities of talmudic traditions
which indicate possible solutions to the problem. We pay particular
attention to the problems of authority commonly used in rejecting
proposed solutions. The Unit has contacts with contemporary
halakhic authorities, and networks actively with others interested
in the field. The 2004 Sherman Lecturer, Rabbi Dr Daniel Sperber,
gave a special seminar to the Unit, which proved very productive.
b AJR
Project on the Experiences of Refugees in the Manchester region,
1933-1945: This is a three year project, two of them funded
by the AJR in London, which will lead to the production of a
book jointly written by Bill Williams and Dr. Daniel Langton.
The kindertransports brought 1,000 children to Manchester. So
far around 75 interviews have been conducted. The research seeks
to break new ground and questions existing assumptions. Was
the British government as helpful to intending refugees as it
might have been? What about 'the British people'? How strong
was anti-Semitism and xenophobia in shaping responses to refugees?
Was acculturation as easy for the refugees as has been suggested?
The project seeks to look critically at the voluntary agencies
set up to support refugees. Was the Jewish community as responsive
in practical terms as it might have been? Is it true that large
numbers of people of Jewish origin owe their salvation to the
Quakers? Why didn't the political left, strong in Manchester
and Salford, do more for refugees? Why is it that they went
out of their ways to support the Basque children, refugees from
the theatre of the Spanish Civil War, but apparently took no
collective action on behalf of the kindertransports?
This is perhaps the first attempt at a regional study of the
refugee experience, making it possible to consider the interaction
between refugee settlement and a particular social, political
and economic context. The patterns of refugee settlement will
be one product of a data base being built up of refugees in
the region and which will finally give us definitive statistical
evidence of numbers, places of origin and places of settlement
of refugees to the region. The project is also trying to rescue
documents and photographs in private hands, and negotiations
have begun with John Rylands for the creation of a refugee collection
here at the University.
c
Genizah Cataloguing Project: The main funding for this project
comes from the Friedberg and Safra Foundations. The primary
objective is the creation of a searchable online catalogue for
the Gaster Genizah collection held within the Special Collections
Division of the JRULM. Electronic records will be supplied to
the Friedberg Foundation as part of the JRULM's contribution
to the international project to produce a union catalogue for
all Genizah collections world-wide.
The 10,000+ fragments include Bible, Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash,
Halakha, Bible commentary, Documents, Letters, Calendars, and
Medical works. Over 700 Biblical fragments have so far been
identified and described, and full descriptions have also been
made of fragments on a variety of other topics. Some help with
cataloguing is provided by the JNUL in Jerusalem. There is also
a pilot digitisation project: 200 images, of about 100 Genizah
fragments, are currently being prepared for the web, together
with their descriptions, using the Luna imaging system.
d
Jewish Built Heritage: A grant totalling £315,876 has
been made by the Arts and Humanities Research Board for the
"Survey of the Jewish Built Heritage in the UK & Ireland",
directed by Dr Sharman Kadish and initiated in 1997 under the
auspices of the Jewish Memorial Council. The Hanadiv Charitable
Foundation has funded a related project, the establishment of
"Jewish Heritage UK" of which Dr Kadish has been appointed
Director. Whilst the Survey is concerned with recording and
researching the vanishing architectural heritage of British
Jewry, Jewish Heritage UK offers practical conservation advice,
covering synagogues and cemeteries and also movable property
such as archives, artefacts and ritual silver. Dr Kadish plans
a major book on the history of synagogue architecture in Britain
with original drawings and full-colour photographs by English
Heritage especially commissioned for the project.
5. Sherman
Lectures: A successful series was delivered in 2004 by Professor
Daniel Sperber of Bar-Ilan University, on "The Modern Study
of the Halakhah" (surprisingly unsupported by the local
rabbinate). The 2005 series will be delivered on 6th-10th March
2005 by Professor Barry Kosmin on "Rethinking the Jewish
World for the 21st century"(details on web site) and the
2006 lecturer will be Dr. Ada Rapaport-Albert.
6. Research
Seminars and Guest Lectures: Seminars were given by Donald
McCallum, University of Manchester, on "A Wittgensteinian
approach to Maimonides' Guide"; Dr Uri Ehrlich, BGU, on
"Early Versions of the Amidah Prayer", and Dr Meir
Bar-Asher, HU, "Jews and Judaism in Early Shi'ite Religious
Literature". A fourth seminar, by Prof Irven Resnick, U
Tenn., on "Medieval Stereotypes of the Jew: Evidence from
Natural Philosophy and Medicine" had to be cancelled because
of the speaker's indisposition. A special rabbinics seminar
by Prof. Arnold Enker, of Bar-Ilan University, on "Criminal
Law Aspects of the Noahide Laws", attracted a substantial
audience despite being held in July. The 2003 AGM was followed
by a guest lecture by Professor Joseph Kostiner of Tel Aviv
University on "The Arab States and Israel: A present evaluation".
7. Extra-mural
activities:
a Rabbinics Seminars: A highly successful series of rabbinics
seminars studying the Chief Rabbi's internet essay, "A
Clash of Civilisations", each led by a Fellow of the Centre,
was held in October-November 2003. Plans are currently being
discussed for a follow-up series in Semester 2 this year, adopting
a different text on the Jewish approach to interfaith relations.
b
AIAS: Occasional lectures continue to be organised in conjunction
with the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society, generously supported
by Mr. Joe Dwek.
c
Hale series: On the initiative of Lucille Cohen, a series of
lectures is being held in Hale in October-November 2004, in
conjunction with Christians in Hale on "Christianity and
Judaism: Roots, Resonances and Historic Interactions".
d
CCE courses: Dr. Sharman Kadish's course on Jewish Art and Architecture
Through the Ages in the current semester was cancelled because
of the low level of advance registrations. Discussions are in
progress with CCE to try to change the administrative arrangements
such as to address this issue in the future. Frank Adam is due
to deliver a series on A History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
in semester 2 - 10 Wednesdays at 7.00 -9.00 p.m. commencing
12th January 2005, Humanities Building. Fee: £35.00 (SC202W04,
listed under History and Archaeology).
8. Web
site:
a A pilot web site, the "Nathan Laski Internet
Resource Centre", prepared with funding from the Nathan
Laski Charitable Trust, has been launched. The site provides
descriptions of web sites which may assist teachers of Jewish
Studies in schools, and takes account of national curriculum
requirements. An Introduction has been written by Charlotte
Gringras, who assisted with the evaluation of the sites described,
and has been appointed Honorary Consultant for the continuation
of the project.
b
The Centre's web site attracts some 20,000 hits per month. It
is due for a major revision, in the light of new statutory requirements
relating to disabled access, the merger of UMIST and the Victoria
University of Manchester, and the need for simplified navigation
given the growth of the site in recent years.
9. Finances:
The position remains much as last year. New sources of income
remain urgently required. The success of the Centre recently
has been in relation to specific research projects, but support
for the continuing teaching infrastructure, in the form of teaching
fellowships and student bursaries, is urgently required. The
Centre lacks secretarial assistance, the burden being carried
largely by Dr Langton and Professor Jackson with occasional
student help. Because of the time devoted to research grant
applications, there has been little advance in general fundraising.
The planned initiation of a new Friends organisation has been
delayed, but Mr. Howard Jacobson has now agreed to participate
in a launch event, being planned for next autumn.
10. Israel
Studies Lectureship: Negotiations have recently concluded
for the establishment of an (initially) 3-year full-time Lectureship
in Israeli Studies, generously supported by a London private
donor. An advert will appear shortly, and it is hoped to make
an appointment wef January 2005.
11. Library
Matters:
a Cataloguing of the Centre library (described in
last year's report) has now almost been completed, and an announcement
regarding access arrangements will be made shortly.
b
Israel Studies Library: An agreement has been made to
purchase the Israel Studies library of Dr Noah Lucas of Oxford
(c.600 items), in conjunction with the creation of the new Israel
Studies Lectureship.
12. "Project
Unity": The merger of the Victoria University of Manchester
and UMIST into the new University of Manchester took effect
on 1st October 2004. This involves the creation of new Faculties
and Schools within them. The concern expressed last year that
this may well result in the current Departments of Religion
and Theology (including Messrs. Alexander, Brooke, Curtis, Jackson,
Kadish, Langton, Unterman and Williams) and Middle Eastern Studies
(including Messrs. Healey, Garside and Samely) finding themselves
in separate Schools has proved accurate. The Planning Committee
resolved in July 2003: "The Planning Committee of the Centre
for Jewish Studies, conscious of its role in student recruitment,
course development, income generation and outreach, as well
as its success in cross-departmental research promotion, opposes
any departmental reconfiguration which would make collaboration
between members in R&T and MES more difficult, and favours
a solution which would recognise and facilitate the further
development of Jewish Studies within the University." Discussions
have commenced on the best manner of implementation of this
policy in the new administrative environment. It has been decided
that the Centre will be classified as an Inter-School Research
Centre, but much of its activity, and its Constitution, will
be subject to a review to be conducted in Semester 2. The Directors
are confident that the achievements of the Centre are becoming
more widely recognised in university circles as a result of
these processes, and are hopeful that the review will result
in new opportunities and not merely a changed, and perhaps more
onerous, administrative framework. In particular, it is hoped
that the new structures will encourage greater participation
from beyond the former Departments of MES and R&T.
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