Royce Hall, 314

In late antiquity, two radically distinct conceptions of divine law—Greek natural law grounded in reason and biblical law grounded in revelation—confronted one another with a force that reverberates to the present. This talk explores these responses and highlights their role in creating and maintaining distinct communities in the world of late antique Judaism.

Christine Hayes is the Weis Professor of Religious Studies in Classical Judaica at Yale. A specialist in talmudic-midrashic studies, Hayes is the author of three scholarly books: Between the Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds, recipient of the 1997 Salo Baron prize for a first book in Jewish thought and literature; Gentile Impurities and Jewish Identities, a 2003 National Jewish Book Award finalist; and What’s Divine about Divine Law? Early Perspectives (Princeton University Press, 2015). She has authored two introductory volumes (The Emergence of Judaism and Introduction to the Bible) as well as numerous journal articles. Hayes is active in professional and academic organizations, and currently serves as Vice-President for program of the Association for Jewish Studies.

Sponsored by: UCLA Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies

Cosponsored by the
UCLA Center for the Study of Religion
UCLA Department of History

RSVP: cjsrsvp@humnet.ucla.edu