MONDAY: First 2006 Lichter Lecture at  UC, 'Maimonides and Moral Ethics'

Each year, the Lichter Lecture Series focuses on a critical theme. This year’s three lectures, on consecutive Monday nights, feature internationally renowned Maimonides scholars.

“Maimonides and Moral Ethics” will be presented at the Stratford Heights Community Center by Menachem Kellner, PhD, professor of Jewish Thought at University of Haifa.

When: Monday, Oct. 16
Reception at 6 p.m.
Lecture at 7 p.m.

Where: Stratford Heights Community Center

All the lectures are free and open to the public and include a reception, which will be observant of Kosher dietary law. To RSVP, call 513-556-2297.

Menachem Kellner, PhD, holds the Wolfson Chair in Jewish Thought at the University of Haifa. Kellner earned his doctorate in philosophy from Washington University, St. Louis, and has lived in Israel since 1980. He is the author of five books including

Maimonides on Human Perfection

(1990),

Maimonides on Judaism and the Jewish People

(1991) and

Maimonides and the Decline of the Generations and the Nature of Rabbinic Authority

(1996). He is also the editor and translator of several scholarly volumes and more than 80 articles on different aspects of Jewish philosophy, history and thought.

Kellner has served in many administrative roles at the University of Haifa including chair of the Department of Maritime Civilizations, dean of students, member of the University Senate, and member of the University Board of Governors. A frequent lecturer at other universities and institutions of higher learning in Israel, Europe and the United States, he has been a visiting professor at Northwestern University and the Sorbonne’s Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes as well as a scholar in residence at the Foundation for Jewish Studies in Washington, DC. He has been the recipient of prizes and awards as well as research grants bestowed by the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, the American Academy for Jewish Research and the Littauer Foundation.

If he’s honest, Kellner said, “No one in the universe is really interested in medieval philosophy.”

Modern-day thinkers can find relevance, however, in the words of a 12-century Jewish rabbi, philosopher and physician, whose take on moral ethics will be discussed in a Monday Lichter series lecture. Kellner will argue, he said, that things other people see as concrete aspects of the universe, Moses ben Maimon, better known as Maimonides, interprets in moral terms.

“What he has to say, in that sense, is very relevant,” said Kellner, who has studied the famed philosopher for more than 40 years.

“In my mind, after the first Moses, he had more of an impact on Judaism than any other single person. His importance as a historical figure is relatively minor - if I were rewriting the history of Western thought, he’d be a paragraph or two at most. If it were the history of Jewish thought, his life would be the biggest part.”

Complimentary parking will be available in Stratford Heights garage.

Department of Judaic Studies
McMicken College of Arts and Sciences
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0169
513-556-9116
Judaic.Studies@uc.edu

The Lichter Lectures in Judaic Studies are made possible by the Jacob and Jennie L. Lichter Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

About the Department of Judaic Studies

Britt Kennerly contributed to this story.