Jewish and Muslim sexual morals were regarded as particularly liberal by Western societies for a long time. Today, on the other hand, ideas of very repressive religious morals which suppress sexuality dominate the Western imagination. But what do Judaism and Islam say about sexual life and eroticism? Which views are represented on controversial issues such as sex education, polygamy, homosexuality and pornography?
past event
Where
W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
Klaus Mangold Auditorium
Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
(Opposite the Museum)
David Biale and Kecia Ali; photos: private
Video recording of the dialogue-based lecture series Sexual Ethics: Sexuality, Lust, Eroticism, and God – on 16 May 2017 (in German and English); Jewish Museum Berlin
Kecia Ali
Kecia Ali is professor of religion at Boston University. Her particular research interests are Islamic law, women, and gender and her important work is entitled Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur'an, Hadith, and Jurisprudence.
David Biale
David Biale is professor of Jewish history at the University of California, Davis. He is author of Eros and the Jews: From Biblical Israel to Contemporary America.
Moderation: Dr. Nahed Samour, Humboldt University Berlin, Faculty of Law
Information and Program (in German)
Dialogical Lecture Series Ethical Questions in Judaism and Islam
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Lecture Series: Ethical Questions in Judaism and Islam (with video recordings) (6)
Ethical Questions in Judaism and Islam (with video recordings)
The lecture series explored contentious ethical issues from diverse aspects of life and shed light on them from Jewish and Islamic perspectives. Two guest scholars gave each lecture, presented their tradition’s position, and engaged in a mutual dialogue.
Man as Lord or Guardian of Creation?
13 July 2017
Discussion: Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, Director of Jewish Studies at Arizona State University in Tempe, and Nawal Ammar, Dean of the Humanities & Social Sciences College at Rowan University in New Jersey
Sexual Ethics: Sexuality, Lust, Eroticism, and God
16 May 2017
Discussion: David Biale, author of Eros and the Jews: From Biblical Israel to Contemporary America and Kecia Ali, author of Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Quran, Hadith, and Jurisprudence.
Military Ethics: The (Religious) Laws Silent Beneath the Weapons?
6 April 2017
Discussion: Michael Broyde, Professor and Head of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University, and Asma Afsaruddin, Professor at Indiana University.
The Boundaries of Life - Bioethical Challenges
Discussion: Laurie Zoloth professor of religion at Weinberg College, Northwestern University, and Ilhan Ilkilic, director of the Institute for Health Sciences and the Institute for the History of Medicine and Ethics at the University of Istanbul.
Lecture Series
23 February 2017 – with video recording
Business Ethics – Is Capitalism Kosher/Halal?
8 December 2016
Discussion: Nathan Lee Kaplan, author of a book on Talmudic business ethics, and Idris Nassery, research associate at the Institute of Islamic Theology, University of Paderborn
Social Ethics – On Fair Social Order
26 October 2016
Discussion: Ingrid Mattson, professor of Islamic Studies, Huron College of Western University in Canada, and Micha Brumlik, senior advisor at the Berlin-Brandenburg Center of Jewish Studies
Video Recordings: Watch Past Museum Events (64)
Watch Past Museum Events
We film select events, such as conferences, panel discussions, book presentations, and our Jewish-Islamic Forum lecture series.
The Last Veit Simons from Berlin
One of Berlin’s oldest Jewish families in a transnational story of class, gender, and sexuality
With: Anna Hájková and Maria von der Heydt
Language: German, no subtitles
Reading/Discussion
11 Dec 2019
About a Tea Bowl
Discussion with brief presentations about interwoven experiences of post-Soviet Jewish migration, in German
Lecture/Discussion
27 Nov 2019
Conversation with the Artist Thomas Struth
With Thomas Struth (photographer) and Theresia Ziehe (curator of photography), related to the exhibition This Place, in German
Artist Talk
5 Dec 2019
Ruth Wodak:
Swing to the right?!
Ruth Wodak traces how a new “normality to the right” is establishing itself in many European countries (in German)
Lecture/Discussion
17 October 2019
Zvi Aviram: Brushes with Death
16 September 2019
Zvi Aviram was born in January 1927 in Berlin as Heinz Abrahamsohn. From age 14, he had to perform forced labor in the arms industry. During the so-called factory operation on 27 February 1943, his parents were arrested and deported and he himself went into illegality.
Karl M. von der Heyden: From Berlin to New York
29 August 2019
In his book From Berlin to New York, Karl M. von der Heyden describes his experiences as a child and youth in war-torn Germany and his journey to the USA, where he began studying at Duke University in 1957 and rose to the boardrooms of Pepsi and Dreamworks.
Sally Perel:
Hitlerjunge Salomon
12 June 2019
Sally Perel was born in Peine in April 1925. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union he pretended to be a Volksdeutscher and called himself Josef Perjell.
In 1990, his memoirs were published and were filmed in the same year under the title Hitlerjunge Salomon.
“To Know One Religion Is to Know None”
28 August 2019
W. Michael Blumenthal Fellow Walid Abdelgawad talks about reflections on Islam and Judaism in the writings of German-speaking Jewish orientalists between 1833 and 1955 (in German)
Video: in German; no subtitles
Museums, Religion, and the Work of Reconciliation and Remembrance
9 May 2019
Museums are called on to deal critically and transparently with the often invisible colonial history of their collections. The curators Jisgang Nika Collision (Haida Gwaii Museum, Haida Nation & Canada) and Léontine Meijer-van Mensch (Saxonian State Ethnographic Collections) discussed this topic.
Access Barriers. Critical Perspectives on Racism in Schools and Curatorial Practices
Keynote by Bonita Bennett (District Six Museum, Cape Town) at the conference Access Barriers on museums as places of social change.
Lecture/Discussion
20 Mar 2019
The Laskers from Breslau (Wrocław) – A Family Reunion in Music and Words
27 January 2019
Cellist and contemporary witness Anita Lasker Wallfisch shares the stage with three generations of her family for the first time.
Marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp on 27 January 1945, they read letters from the family written between 1942 and 1952 and play works by Beethoven, Schubert, Bloch, and others.
27 Jan 2019
Happy Birthday, Academy Programs!
2 December 2018
Welcoming Remarks and Introducing the Academy Programs | Discussion with Performance: Archive of Life. Memory in a Society Shaped by Migration | Panel Discussion: Jewish Fathers – Jewish Children? | Panel Discussion: A Pre-fascist Era? | Reception: 5 Years – 5 Friends – 5 Gifts
Peter Neuhof: A Youth in the Shadow of the Persecution
3 December 2018
Peter Neuhof speaks about his memories and experiences in an interview with Aubrey Pomerance, head of the archive. His parents were active members of the German Communist Party (KPD) and were arrested in 1943. Peter was able to remain in the parental home.
Polish Perspectives on '68: March Protests
22 November 2018
This event for the “'68 Now” series discusses (in German and Polish) the events of 1968 from the Polish perspective. In Poland, the student protests were co-opted by an antisemitic rampage that resulted in 13,000 Jews being forced to leave the country.
Living with Islamophobia
11 and 12 October 2018
The international conference “Living with Islamophobia” considered how cultural and religious affiliations are constructed and invited experts to enter into discussion.
Imported Antisemitism?
30 August 2018
Is Antisemitism increasing with the number of refugees from Arab countries? We discuss with political, academic, and practical experts which manifestations of antisemitism among Arab migrants and Muslims in Germany exist (in German).
Michael Sfard:
The Jerusalem Dispute. The Fight for Human Rights in Israeli Courts
6 September 2018
Lecture by Michael Sfard, one of Israel’s leading human rights lawyers
Seyla Benhabib: The Global Refugee Crisis and the Challenge to Liberal Democracies
26 June 2018
Seyla Benhabib (Yale University) discusses the challenges migration poses to liberal democracies.
Hanni Levy: Surviving in Berlin
Born in 1924, survived the Nazi era in hiding in Berlin with the help of friends, in German
Eyewitness Talks
25 Jun 2018
Stolen Judaica
Provenance Research in Israel and Germany
In this symposium, research that explores the origins of Jewish ceremonial objects exclusively in Israel and Germany, took center stage for the first time.
Conference
18/19 Jun 2018
Ongoing Struggles. Anti-Discrimination Work during the Rise of the Far Right
7 June 2018
Opening Session of the academic conference
Including Imani Perry's keynote »What Lies Underneath: Difficult Histories and the Resurgence of The Far Right«
Anita Lasker Wallfisch: Auschwitz Never Left Me
28 May 2018
Born in Breslau in 1925, Anita Lasker Wallfisch studied cello in Berlin from 1938. In 1942, Anita’s parents were deported to Izbica and murdered, and in 1943 Anita and her sister Renate were deported to Ausschwitz.
Lives in Common: Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem
8 May 2018
Author Menachem Klein in Conversation with Cilly Kugelmann
Margot Friedländer: Try to Make Your Life
9 April 2018
Margot Friedländer was born in 1921 in Berlin and has had close ties with the museum for many years. She reads from her memoir, which takes its title from her mother’s last message to her: Try to Make Your Life.
What is the Relationship Between Antisemitism and Islamophobia?
20 March 2018
Lectures by David Feldman and Stefanie Schüler-Springorum
The Book of Numbers
12 February 2018
Reading and Talk with the Author Joshua Cohen and Literary Scholar Jan Wilm
Walter Frankenstein: Not with Us
31 January 2018
Born in 1924 in West Prussia, Walter Frankenstein lived in Berlin from 1936. When deportation threatened, he went into hiding with his wife and their five-week-old son. The family managed to survive with the help of friends.
“And the day will come ...”
11 January 2018
Eyewitness Horst Selbiger in Conversation with Léontine Meijer-van Mensch
Kurt Roberg: A Visa Or Your Life
Born 1924 in Celle, emigration at the end of 1938 via the Netherlands, return to Berlin in March 1941 and re-emigration in May 1941 via Lisbon to the USA, in German
Eyewitness Talks
4 Dec 2017
New Judaism – Alliances in Postmigrant Society
16 November 2017
Discussion on concepts of being Jewish within the third generation of Jews in Germany (in German and English)
Jews in Muslim Majority Countries
24 to 27 October 2017
International conference for scholars from different continents and academic disciplines, who discuss questions of culture, identity and memory of Jewish life in Arab and Muslim majority countries.
Henry Wuga: A Nuremberger from Glasgow
23 October 2017
Henry Wuga was born to a Jewish mother and a Catholic father in Nuremberg in 1924. In 1938, his parents were able to send him to Scotland with a children’s transport and later in 1947, he could bring his mother, who had survived in hiding, to his home in Glasgow.
Language: German
Future Memories
26 September 2017
Discussion on the Importance of Minority Perspectives for European Societies’ Commemorative Cultures (in German and English)
Luther, Rosenzweig, and the Script
18 September 2017
Book Presentation and Discussion (in German)
Between the Lines
9 September 2017
An Evening with Israeli and German Poets (in Hebrew and German)
Religion. Fashion. Empowerment.
29 June 2017
Discussion with Reina Lewis and Meriem Lebdiri (in German and English)
Sexual Ethics: Sexuality, Lust, Eroticism, and God
16 May 2017
Panel discussion with David Biale and Kecia Ali (in German and English)
Military Ethics: The (Religious) Laws Silent Beneath the Weapons?
6 April 2017
Panel discussion with Michael Broyde and Asma Afsaruddin (in German and English)
The Boundaries of Life - Bioethical Challenges
Panel discussion with Laurie Zoloth and Ilhan Ilkilic (in German and English)
Lecture/Discussion
23 February 2017
Jews in North Africa During the Second World War
26 Januar 2017
Theme day with lectures by Michel Abitbol, Eric Salerno, Patrick Bernhard, Haim Saadoun, and panel discussion
Language: German, English, and French
Business Ethics – Is Capitalism Kosher/Halal?
8 December 2016
Panel discussion with Nathan Lee Kaplan and Idris Nassery
Language: German, no subtitles
"Nothing can Hurt Those who Already Died Once" - Discussion with Contemporary Witness Marko Feingold
Event on 10 November 2016
With: Marko Feingold, Peter Schäfer, Uwe Neumärker
Language: German, no subtitles
Social Ethics – On Fair Social Order
Panel discussion on 26 October 2016
With: Micha Brumlik and Ingrid Mattson
Language: German and English, no subtitles
Sites of Memory: Lost and Entangled Narratives
Conference on 16 September 2016
With: Dr. Rosa Fava, Juliane Jurewicz, Prof. Dr. Iman Attia, Olga Gerstenberger, Ozan Keskinkiliç, Anita Awosusi, Ilona Lagrene, Prof. Dr. Michael Rothberg, and Serpil Polat
Language: German and English, no subtitles
TIME OF CRISIS
Panel discussion on 7 September 2016
With: Dan Diner, Adam Michnik, Dietmar Herz, Étienne François, and Hans Kundnani
Language: German, no subtitles
Organic Meets Kosher and Halal
Dialogical lecture on 1 June 2016
With: Shai Lavi and Sarra Tlili
Language: English, no subtitles
Antisemitism in the Arabic World – Facts and Myths
Panel discussion on 26 April 2016
With: Michael Kiefer and Omar Kamil
Language: German, no subtitles
Feminist Approaches to Judaism and Islam
Panel discussion on 14 April 2016
With: Judith Plaskow and Ziba Mir-Hosseini
Language: English, no subtitles
"Mich hat Auschwitz nie verlassen" (Auschwitz has never left me)
With: Renate Lasker-Harpprecht and Anita Lasker Wallfisch
Language: German, no subtitles
Eyewitness Talks
1 Mar 2016
Becoming a Jew, Becoming a Muslim
Panel discussion on 18 February 2016
With: Tobias Jona Simon and Esra Özyürek
Language: German and English, no subtitles
Religious Law and Secular State
Dialogical lecture on 9 December 2015
With: Ronen Reichman and Mathias Rohe
Language: German, no subtitles
Post-migrant Society?!
International conference from 12 to 14 November 2015
Recording of the opening event
Language: German and English, no subtitles
What Does Diaspora Mean for Jews and Muslims?
Dialogical lecture on 29 October 2015
With: Michael L. Satlow and Sarah Albrecht
Language: German and English, no subtitles
On Life – Working with People Traumatized by the Shoah
Panel discussion on 1 October 2015
With: Giselle Cycowicz, Martin Auerbach and David Becker and Volker Beck
Language: German, no subtitles
Kill Me a Son!
Symposium from 3 September 2015 to 4 September 2015
Recording of the opening event
With: Prof. Dr. Peter Schäfer and Prof. Dr. Angelika Neuwirth
Language: German, no subtitles
A Shared View of Europe – Jewish and Muslim Experiences as Reflected in Public Controversies
Panel discussion on 19 January 2015
With: Prof. Nilüfer Göle, Shai Lavi and Gökçe Yurdakul
Language: German, no subtitles
Contemporary Jewish life in a global modernity
International conference from 11 December 2014 to 12 December 2014
Recording of the presentation "Future of European Jewry"
With: Dr. Karen Körber and Dr. Diana Pinto
Language: English, no subtitles
Snip it?!
Presentation of a study followed by a discussion on 4 December 2014
With: Professor Kerem Öktem, Mounir Azzaoui, Dr. des. Alexander Hasgall, and Dr. des. Hannah C. Tzuberi.
Concepts of Citizenship and Participation in European Comparison
Symposium from 7 April 2014 to 8 April 2014
Recording of the keynote by Prof. Dr. Rainer Bauböck and the followed panel discussion
With: Prof. Dr. Rainer Bauböck, Dr. Manuela Bojadžijev, Josip Juratovic and Dr. Monika Lüke
Language: German, no subtitles
Art and Culture in the Terezín Ghetto
Symposium on 2 March 2014
In four lectures, the symposium explores the history of Theresienstadt, the “ghetto of exceptions,” from four different angles.
With: Wolfgang Benz, Anna Hájková and Hanno Loewy
Language: German, no subtitles
The Connected Audience
Conference from 27 February 2014 to 28 February 2014
With: John H. Falk
Language: English, no subtitles
Is Higher Education a Safeguard Against Racism and Antisemitism?
Presentation of a study followed by panel discussion on 20 February 2014
With: Wassilis Kassis, Charlotte Schallié, Iman Attia, Stefanie Schüler-Springorum and Andreas Zick
Language: German, no subtitles
"What do we mean when we say 'antisemitism'?"
Keynote lecture on 8 November 2013
Opening of the conference Antisemitism in Europe Today: the Phenomena, the Conflicts
With: Brian Klug
Language: English
Circumcision: Identity Politics and / or Health Issue?
With: Sander L. Gilman, in Englisch
Lecture/Discussion
8 May 2013
Judaism
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Ethical Questions in Judaism & Islam
An event series by the Jewish-Islamic Forum
Lecture Series
2016/2017
Calendar of Programs
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