Group study sessions devoted to Jewish and non-Jewish texts dealing with magic and fortune-telling
Host: Prof. Gideon Bohak, Tel Aviv University
Sessions to be held in Hebrew
First Session: Predicting the Weather in the Land of Israel during the Byzantine Era
In this session we will read from three fragments from the Cairo Genizah which enable us to reconstruct a short essay explaining how to predict the weather for a whole year based on meteorological conditions during the four days between Yom Kippur and Sukkot.
Friday | March 13th 2020 | 17th of Adar | 10:00-12:00
Second Session: Eclipses and Their Meaning – Between Aramaic and Syriac
In this session we will read two brief texts in Aramaic which attempt to predict the future according to the timing of various eclipses, while also reviewing a similar Syriac text
Friday | April 17th 2020 | 23rd of Nisan | 10:00-12:00
Third Session: The Galilean Book of Dreams and the Babylonian Book of Dreams
In this session we will read parts of a dream-interpretation book written in Galilean Aramaic, and discuss its complex relationship with the Book of Dreams found in the Babylonian Talmud (Berakhot 55 71 – 57 72)
Friday | May 8th 2020 | 14th of Iyar | 10:00-12:00
Participation in the workshop is free of charge, but conditional on attendance at all sessions, to enable the formation of a study group
