The Women’s Initiative for Jewish Studies (WIJS) at Young Israel of New Rochelle is proud to present Dr. Malka Z. Simkovich on Wednesday, February 9, 2022 @ 8:00 pm (ET) on Zoom. Simkovich will be the fifth speaker of the 2021-2022 season in the monthly scholarly programming offered by WIJS at YINR.

Dr. Simkovich will speak on the topic: What Did the Diaspora Mean to Jews in the Roman World? This lecture will explore the earliest tensions between the Jews in Judea and in the Diaspora, and will consider how some rabbinic writers sought to resolve these tensions, which included the discussions between the communities surrounding the celebration of the Chanukah and Purim holidays.

Dr. Malka Z. Simkovich is the Crown-Ryan Chair of Jewish Studies and the director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. She is the author of several books, including Discovering Second Temple Literature: The Scriptures and Stories That Shaped Early Judaism (2018), which received the 2019 AJL Judaica Reference Honor Award. Simkovich’s articles have been published in journals which include the Harvard Theological Review and the Journal for the Study of Judaism, and on online forums such as The Times of Israel and The Ancient Near East Today. She is currently working on a book regarding Judea-Diaspora relations in antiquity, and is involved in numerous interreligious dialogue projects which help to increase understanding and friendship between Christians and Jews.

All WIJS programming is open to women and men. Please visit www.yinr.org/wijs  to view the complete WIJS 2021-22 schedule. For more information, to be added to the WIJS email list, or for Zoom information, please call 914-636-2215 or email: [email protected]. Individuals on the WIJS mailing list will automatically receive the Zoom information.

By Tamar Croog