Read this new articel by Avishai Bar-Asher on ‘On the Eastern Roots of The Theology of Ḥaside Ashkenaz: An Anonymous Commentary on Sefer Yeṣirah from the Cairo Genizah and Its Reception in Medieval Western Europe’, Te’uda 34 (2025): 165–218.
Monthly Archives: February 2026
Neue Frist für Job: wissenschaftliche:r Mitarbeiter:in (m/w/d), Salomon Ludwig Steinheim-Institut
Das Steinheim-Institut in Essen sucht zum nächstmöglichen Zeitpunkt eine:n wissenschaftliche:n Mitarbeiter:in (m/w/d) mit Schwerpunkt auf dem Gebiet des (west-)aschkenasischen Judentums der Vormoderne. Die Stelle ist in Teilzeit (75 %) befristet für die Dauer von zunächst zwei Jahren zu besetzen.
Bewerbungsfrist: 15. März 2026.
Conference: Annual israeli “Middle Ages Now!” conference to be held in Haifa, 5 March 2026
See program below:
Conference: “Innovations in the Study of Ashkenazi Jews in the Middle Ages: A Scholars’ Seminar in Memory of the Late Prof. Avraham Grossman on the Second Anniversary of His Death,” Bar-Ilan University, March 9
The World Union for Jewish Studies is to sponsor a scholars’ workshop, under a title חידושים בחקר יהדות אשכנז בימי הביניים , at Bar-Ilan University, Monday, March 9. See the program below:

Introduction to special issue: Jewish and converso labour in the Crown of Aragon in the late Middle Ages
You can now read the introduction to the special issue in Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies about “Jewish and converso labour in the Crown of Aragon in the late Middle Ages” by Anna Rich-Abad and Marina Girona-Berenguer.
Did Jonah Ibn Janāḥ Author a Commentary on the Prophets?
Read this new article by Elnatan Chen about “Did Jonah Ibn Janāḥ Author a Commentary on the Prophets?,” Jewish Quarterly Review 116.1 (2026): 157–68.
Summer School with POLIN Museum for Early Career Scholars in Jewish Studies
According to their call, the “POLIN Museum is organizing a week-long program aimed at early-career scholars – doctoral students & post-docs – working in Jewish Studies or any other related field such as Jewish history, culture, literature, art, and so on.” This will take place on 20–24 July 2026.
Deadline: 31 March 2026.
New Book: Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Jewish Visual Culture and Art
by Alec Mishory / Ilil Arbel. Frank & Timme 2026
Jewish visual culture is very rich—and this despite the fact, that Judaism has forbidden graven images for centuries. This groundbreaking guide reveals how Jewish artists forged an extraordinary visual language across 3000 years and is the first concise study of the rich Jewish iconography. The dictionary provides the history of visual art as well as the interpretations of biblical, talmudic, kabbalistic, and modern narratives.
The authors decode symbols that embody Jewish identity from Abraham to the Holocaust and beyond. They range from biblical heroes, demons and angels, sacred sites and holy spaces, flora and fauna, to mythical events and lived rituals, ancient artifacts and modern emblems, the calendar and its holy days, and also include abstract concepts such as gender, apostasy, and ritual. This guide is for the interested reader who encounters the topic for the first time as well as for the scholar who seeks a deeper understanding of already familiar symbols. It helps you discover new pathways through Jewish visual culture.
The Authors
Alec Mishory is an art historian and a scholar of visual culture. He worked on Israeli visual culture, Israeli art and on the Jewish art scene in Israel in the 1940s. He is the author of the Open University of Israel’s art history textbooks.
Ilil Arbel specializes in Jewish history, mythology, and folklore. She regularly publishes on these topics and provides editorial services to several organizations, including the American Museum of Natural History and the University of Haifa.
Virtual Talk: Matilda Tomaryn Bruckner, “Jewish-Christian Dialogue in Medieval French Literature”
On 25 February 2026, Matilda Tomaryn Bruckner will give a talk about “Jewish-Christian Dialogue in Medieval French Literature: Inscribing Biblical Encounters in the Vernacular” (Hybrid).
Jeremy Cohen: The Salvation of Israel. Jews in Christian Eschatology from Paul to the Puritans
You an now read Jeremy Cohen’s The Salvation of Israel. Jews in Christian Eschatology from Paul to the Puritans (Cornell University Press, 2026).