Northeastern University Hosts Lecture on Jewish Magic and Mysticism

Contact: Renata Nyul at 617-373-7424

What: Northeastern University will host a lecture on Tuesday, March 13, titled “Self-hood and Sainthood: Magic and Mysticism in Contemporary American and Israeli Judaism,” delivered by Dr. Shaul Magid, a scholar from Indiana University. The event will conclude the Jewish Studies Program’s 2006-2007 lecture series, “Seers, Spirits and Sages: Magic, Mysticism and the Jewish Experience.”

Who: Shaul Magid is the Jay and Jeannie Schottenstein Professor of Modern Judaism at Indiana University. He received his Rabbinical Ordination from Yeshivat Ha-Mivtar in Jerusalem. Dr. Magid is the author of Hasidism on the Margin, and his new book “From Metaphysics to Midrash: Myth, History, and the Interpretation of Scripture in Lurianic Kabbala,” will be released in the winter of 2008 by Indiana University Press. In addition, he is the editor of God’s Voice from the Void: Old and New Studies in Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav (State University of New York Press, 2002), co-editor of both the Beginning/Again:Toward a Hermeneutic of Jewish Texts (Seven Bridges Press, 2002), and The Journal of Textual Reasoning. His current research involves the study of the Jewish Renewal Movement in America and the American roots of American Judaism.

The lecture is free and open to the public

When: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Northeastern University Alumni Center, Columbus Place (716 Columbus Avenue), 6th floor. Visitor parking available at the Renaissance Parking Garage, 835 Columbus Avenue. Northeastern University parking rates apply.

These events are made possible by support from Mort and Marcia Ruderman, the Northeastern Jewish Studies Program, and the Department of Philosophy and Religion.

For more information, please contact Jenny Sartori at 617-373-7045 or at j.sartori@neu.edu, and visit the Jewish Studies Program’s Web site: http://www.neu.edu/jewishstudies

About Northeastern: Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a private research university located in the heart of Boston. Northeastern is a leader in interdisciplinary research, urban engagement, and the integration of classroom learning with real-world experience. The university’s distinctive cooperative education program, where students alternate semesters of full-time study with semesters of paid work in fields relevant to their professional interests and major, is one of the largest and most innovative in the world. The University offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in six undergraduate colleges, eight graduate schools, and two part-time divisions. For more information, please visit www.northeastern.edu.