Sunday | May 15 | 8pm (1pm EDT) | CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
In 1165, the traveler Benjamin of Tudela estimated the size of the Jewish community in Arles at about 200 families. It was one of the oldest communities in France, a center of scholarship as important as the community of Narbonne in Languedoc. According to Benjamin, there were about 300 families living in the Episcopal see of Marseilles, which he described as a city of the “geonim and the wise” Why were these Jews particularly wise? Join this tour to travel to medieval Province to encounter this confident rabbinic society and culture, whose recognizable literary figures were both proud of their own traditions and open minded (at times) to those of the other.
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This series will take us to strong and vibrant Jewish communities in the medieval period in Spain, Provence and Portugal. Each lecture comprises a detailed look at the history of these communities, their prominent members and scholars, how they functioned, their defining characteristics, and any visual remains of their presence still extant in these places.