BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Eventin//Event Calendar//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:e2f3e447177f5e7474a4bfc617b44010@beitmidrashoz.org
SUMMARY:Reading in Deep Waters: Agnon\, Law\, and the Land - with Shai Gins
 burg
DESCRIPTION:This talk explores S. Y. Agnon’s In the Heart of the Seas\, o
 ften read as a story of Jewish longing for and return to the Land of Israel
 . One of the novella’s central literary devices is its rich network of al
 lusions to religious\, literary\, and philosophical texts. What new possibi
 lities emerge when we consider the full range of sources on which Agnon dra
 ws—not only modern Hebrew literature\, but also the Bible\, the Talmud\, 
 Jewish commentary\, Hasidic tales\, Christian sermons\, European legends\, 
 contemporary English\, French and German literature\, and more?\nThrough th
 ese references\, Agnon complicates the idea of a simple\, redemptive homeco
 ming. Written between 1924 and 1934\, the novella reflects on the harsh rea
 lities of its time: the rise of fascism in Europe\, growing international t
 ensions\, and escalating anti-Jewish discrimination\, culminating in the Na
 zi seizure of power in 1933. It also reflects the tensions surrounding Brit
 ish policy in Mandatory Palestine\, particularly the uncertainty surroundin
 g the territory’s future and the meaning of the promise that it would ser
 ve as a “national home for the Jewish people.” Agnon uses the novella t
 o explore what relationship Jewish literary tradition—and contemporary He
 brew literature in particular—bears to these historical realities.\nThe t
 alk concludes by considering the novella’s reflections on writing and rea
 ding. Does literature simply console its readers\, or can it also reshape i
 nherited religious stories and encourage new forms of thought and action?\n
 Shai encourages you to read the novella beforehand to get the most out of t
 he talk\, although it is not a prerequisite.\nIn collaboration with ACJC (M
 onash's Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation)\nAbout the Guest Speaker
 :\nShai Ginsburg is Associate Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
  at Duke University. His research focuses on modern Hebrew literature\, Isr
 aeli cinema\, Jewish intellectual history\, literary theory\, and game stud
 ies. He is the author of Rhetoric and Nation: The Formation of Hebrew Nati
 onal Culture\, 1880–1990 and coeditor of Jews and the Ends of Theory a
 nd Bounded Mind and Soul: Russia and Israel\, 1880–2010. His current wor
 k explores the emergence of Hebrew speech at the turn of the twentieth cent
 ury
LOCATION:Caulfield
DTSTAMP:20260907T115305Z
DTSTART:20261029T083000Z
DTEND:20261029T103000Z
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR