Eliezer Berkovits Symposium

Location:
Other Location (see description)


Eliezer Berkovits (1908-1992), chair of the Department of Jewish Philosophy at the Hebrew Theological College (Skokie, Illinois) from 1958 to 1975, is now widely recognized as one of the more significant Jewish theologians and Orthodox rabbinic thinkers of the twentieth-century. A product of Eastern European yeshivot and the Hildesheimer Seminary in Berlin, Berkovits fled the Nazis to England and Australia, moved to the United States, and finally immigrated to Israel. His thought engaged the concrete problems of the Jewish people during a period of momentous change, from the Holocaust to the establishment of the State of Israel, addressing a range of questions from biblical theology to the halakhic problem of the agunah, feminism, and the challenge of conversion.

Berkovits was one of the first Orthodox leaders to build bridges with Reform and Conservative Judaism and, through his own person, had a strong impact on the Chicago Jewish community. In recent years there has been a renaissance of interest in Berkovits’ writings in Israel, including translation and publication of a number of his works into Hebrew and, most recently, into Russian.

The Center for Jewish Studies of the University of Chicago, in collaboration with the Spertus Institute, is proud to sponsor this symposium, bringing together leading scholars of rabbinics and Jewish thought to critically address Berkovits’ contributions to modern Jewish thought and life.

This program is open to the community at no charge, but registration is required. To register, contact rsvpberkovits@spertus.edu or 312-322-1773.

Location: Spertus Institute