STAUB TO LECTURE AT SUNY ON MEDIEVAL JEWISH THOUGHT

NEW PALTZ — Jacob J. Staub, philosopher and educator of Medieval Jewish thought, will speak at the Ninth Annual Louis and Mildred Resnick Fall Lecture Series at the State University of New York at New Paltz on October 8. Dr. Staub’s lecture, “A Tale of Two Thinkers: Maimonds and Gersonides,” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Lecture Center 102.

Staub, vice president for Academic Affairs and director of the Department of Medieval Civilization at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Wyncote, PA, is author of The Creation of the World According to Gersonides. He has written numerous works on Reconstructionist philosophy and education. From 1983 to 1989, he served as editor of The Reconstructionist Journal.

This year’s Resnick Lecture Series, titled “Jewish Biography,” explores the historical context of the lives of a variety of notable personalities representative of Jewish life — from the biblical period to the present.

Upcoming lectures include, on October 29: “Dona Gracia and Her Sisters: Jewish Women in Medieval Spain,” by Leilah Gal Berner, Department of Religion, Emory College; on November 5: “Josephus: Loyal Historian or Traitor,” by Lawrence Schiffman; on November 12: “An American Vision of Judaism: The Biography of Mordecai Kaplan,” by David Teutsch, president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College; on November 19: “The Third Fiddler: On Being a Jewish Poet,” by Dick Fein; and on December 3: “The Man Yitzhak Rabin,” by Lewis Brownstein, Department of Political Science, SUNY New Paltz. All lectures will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Lecture Center 102. They are free and open to the public.

The series is sponsored annually by the Louis and Mildred Resnick Institute for the Study of Modern Jewish Life and The College at New Paltz Foundation. Earlier lectures this fall included, “Profiles in Chutzpah: the Life of King David,” “Snippets of Lives and Snapshots of Persons: Views on Biblical Women,” and “A Woman of Valor: The Life of Glukel of Hameln.”