Rabbi Morris in Conversation with Marc Michael Epstein

Getting Emotional in Barcelona, 1320: Visual Expressions of the Emotional Life of Sephardic Jewry 

The magnificent manuscripts illuminated for medieval Sephardi Jews often depict the characters of the biblical narratives embodying a rich spectrum of emotions. This is accomplished through the thinnest of lines on the parchment leaves—in spaces only centimeters high—showing furrowed brows, pouting mouths, or mournful eyes . Professor Marc Michael Epstein of Vassar College in New York will engage these acutely observed details in order to open our own eyes and hearts to the particular preoccupations—the loves, hatreds, fears and concerns of the Jews of Barcelona circa 1320. He will demonstrate how these emotions—so often overlooked in the study of art— actually constitute parshanut—commentary— in and of themselves, how they respond to similar depictions of emotion in Christian art, and how this enriches our understanding of how these 14th century Sephardic Jews understood Scripture in light of their own experience

Booking closes on Tuesday 5th May at 12 midday

This will be a series and each week Rabbi Shalom Morris welcomes a scholar of Sephardi studies, as we appreciate the impressive state of Sephardi academia today. Scholars from around the world will present and discuss their current area of research, and attendees will have the opportunity to submit their own questions. This is a unique opportunity not to be missed!

Upcoming talks

12th May -Stanley Mirvis- The Sephardic Caribbean: Plantations, Slavery, and Colony

19th May -Laura Arnold Leibman- Giving Sephardic Women a Voice

26th May -Eliezer Papo – Sephardim and Ottoman Jewry in the Modern State: How They Helped Create The World We Know Today.