Invited Lectures:
“The Pursuit of Happiness in Pre-Modern Judaism: Between Philosophy and Kabbalah,” The Louis Jacobs Lectures in Rabbinic Thought at the Center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Oxford University, England (May 1997).
“Two Models of Jewish Spirituality,” The Franklin B. Moosnik Lecture in Judaic Studies, The Lexington Theological Seminary and the University of Kentucky, Lexington KY (April 1997).
“Kabbalah and the Myth of Judaism,” The Shalom Lecture of Jewish Studies, the University of Pittsburgh (February 1998).
“Jewish Spirituality: Past Models, Present Quest,” the Thirteenth Annual Klutznick-Harris Symposium on “Spiritual Dimensions of Judaism” organized by Creighton University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (September, 2000).
“Judaism and Ecology: An Uneasy Relationship,” Dorsha Wallman Lecture in Modern Torah Interpretation, San Diego State University (September, 2003).
“Judaism and Environmentalism: Are they Compatible”? University of Arizona (January 31, 2005).
“Judaism and Ecofeminism: Convergence and Conflict,” Bloome Leadership Institute of COEJL (Washington, DC Feb. 27-March 1, 2005).
“Beyond Conflict of Science and Religion: The Case of Judaism,” Advanced Institute of Science and Religion, Canyon Institute for Advanced Studies (Phoenix, Arizona, February 16, 2006).
“Philosophy and Kabbalah on the Pursuit of Happiness,” Institute of Advanced Studies (University of Minnesota, March 22, 2007).
“Facing the Challenges of Transhumanism: Religious, Philosophical and Ethical Reflections,” conference on “Transdisciplinarity and the Unity of Knowledge: Beyond the Science-and-Religion Dialogue,” Metanexus Institute, University of Pennsylvania, (June 4-6, 2007).
“Human Embodiment and Dignified Death: A Critique of Transhumanism,” Conference on Extending Life: Setting the Agenda for the Ethics of Aging, Death, and Immortality, organized by the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity (Deerfield, IL) (Phoenix, March 6, 2008).
“A Feminist Reads Maimonides: Science and Religion in Judaism,” St. Mary’s College, South Bend, Indiana (April 29, 2008).
“Transhumanism and the Pursuit of Immortality: A Jewish Critique,” Keynote Address at the International Conference on Personal Identity and Resurrection, Innsbruck University, Austria (July 28-August 1, 2008).
“Feminine Aspects of Jewish Mysticism,” conference on “Jewish Mysticism: New Insights and Scholarship,” Florida Atlantic University (February 15-16, 2009).
Martin and Helen Schwartz Lecture Series in Jewish Studies at Indiana University, “Jewish Environmentalism? – The Biblical Conundrum” (Nov. 16, 2009) “Nature in Modern Judaism: Between the Secular and the Religious” (Nov. 17, 2009).
Papers:
“Sefirot as the Essence of God in the Writings of David Messer Leon,” Association of Jewish Studies Annual Conference (December, 1981).
“The Concept of Miracles in the Writings of David Messer Leon,” American Philosophical Association, Regional Meeting, Rutgers University (May, 1982).
“Maimonides and Aquinas: The Interplay of Two Masters in Medieval Jewish Philosophy,” University of Notre Dame (November, 1982).
“Prayer in Jewish Mysticism: The Medieval Phase,” University Seminar, Columbia University (October, 1983).
“The Defense of Maimonides in Fifteenth Century Jewish Philosophy,” The American Academy for Jewish Research,” New York (November, 1983).
“Methodological Observations on Modern Research into the Kabbalah,” Seminar on Jewish Mysticism, Jewish Theological Seminary, New York (April, 1986).
“Interpreting Maimonides with the Help of Aquinas,” Sarah Lawrence College (February, 1987).
“Jewish Studies: the State of the Field: Medieval Judaism,” Centennial Conference of the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York (May, 1987).
“Jewish Culture in Renaissance Italy – A Methodological Survey,” University Seminar, Columbia University (April, 1988).
“Human Felicity – A Fifteenth-Century Jewish Perspective,” Boston Colloquium of Medieval Philosophy, Boston University (December, 1989).
“Jewish Mysticism – The State of the Field,” Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL (February 1991).
“Human Felicity – Fifteenth Century Sephardic Perspectives on Happiness,” Conference “In Iberia and Beyond: Hispanic Jews between Two Cultures,” Center for Baroque Studies, University of Maryland (April, 1991).
“Conceptions of Happiness in Fifteenth Century Jewish Philosophy,” 26th International Congress of Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Michigan (March, 1991).
“Between Worlds in Retrospect,” 6th Annual Midwest Jewish Studies Colloquium, Ohio State University (May, 1992).
“Biblical Hermeneutics in Kabbalah: A Mode of Medieval Jewish Spirituality,” Institute of Medieval Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington (October, 1992).
“On Kabbalah and its Modern Interpreters,” Conference on Reform Judaism and the Academic Study of Judaism,” Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati Ohio (November, 1992).
“The Ultimate End of Human Life in Post-Expulsion Philosophic Literature,” Conference on “Crisis and Creative in the Sephardic World 1391-1648,” Columbia University (November, 1992).
“Philosophy and the Liberation of Women and Jews,” Conference on “Judaism and Gender,” Ohio State University (April, 1993).
“The Will and the Intellect in Almosnino’s Commentary on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (Hebrew), the 11th World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem (June, 1993).
“Torah and Philosophy in the Pursuit of Happiness: The View of Fifteenth-Century Jewish Philosophers,” Institute of Advanced Studies, Hebrew University (July, 1993).
“Intellectualism Versus Voluntarism in Post-Expulsion Jewish Philosophy: The School of Joseph Taitazak in Salonica,” Institute of Advanced Studies, Hebrew University, Jerusalem (July, 1993).
“Practical Reason and the Pursuit of Happiness: Scholastic Influences in Almosnino’s Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics, Boston University (December, 1993).
“The Soul as a Mirror of Nature in Sixteenth Century Jewish Philosophy,” Conference on “Jewish Responses to Early Modern Science,” Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel (May, 1995).
“The Emotions and the Love of God in Sixteenth Century Jewish Aristotelianism,” American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, Philadelphia (November, 1995).
“Judaism and the Natural World – The Mystical Tradition, Conference on “Judaism and the Natural World,” Harvard University (February, 1998).
“The Perfection of Moses: A Truth-Telling Myth,” Paideia: 20th World Congress of Philosophy, Boston (August, 1998).
“The Bible as an Esoteric Text: Philosophy and Kabbalah,” Israeli Embassy, Washington DC, (February, 1998).
“The State of Israel and Jewish Studies Around the World,” Plenary Address in The Association of Jewish Studies Annual Convention (December, 1998). The speech was excerpted in The Chronicle of Higher Education (2/26/99).
“Judaism and Science: The Evidence of Kabbalah,” Conference on Science and Judaism, Arizona State University (February, 1999).
“A Jewish Perspective on Religious Pluralism,” for a Roundtable on “Contending Gods: Religion in the Global Moment,” Macalseter College, St. Paul MN (October, 1999).
“Feminism and Jewish Philosophy: Beyond the Crisis of Modernity,” Conference on ”Finding a Home: Jewish Women Studies in the Academy,” Jewish Theological Seminary, New York (October, 1999).
“The Natural World in the Sources of Judaism,” for a “Forum on Religion and Ecology,” Harvard University and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston (October, 1999).
“Human Experimentation and Human Nature – A Response,” in Science and Judaism Workshop on “What is the Human?” Arizona State University (February, 2000).
“Judaism and Ecology” for a panel on “Religion and Ecology,” American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, Denver (November, 2001).
“The Zohar as a Prescription for Happiness,” Association of Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Washington D.C. (December, 2001).
“Jewish Studies and the Jewish Community,” Conference on “Jewish Studies in the University: A Retrospective,” Stanford University (April, 2002).
“The Conservation of Tradition: the Case of Judaism,” Annual Conference of Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science, Haverford College (June, 2002).
“Teshuvah: Spiritual Transformation in Judaism,” Spiritual Transformation Scientific Research
Program organized by the Metanexus Institute for Templeton Foundation, University of Pennsylvania (October, 2002).
“A Jewish Response to Ecofeminism,” Association of Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Los
Angeles (December, 2002).
“Happiness in Medieval Judaism: Between Athens and Jerusalem,” conference on “Jewish Civilization between Athens and Jerusalem,” UCLA (June, 2003).
“Religion, Ecology and Gender: A Jewish Perspective,” for a conference on “Gaia and the Sacred: Religion, Science, and Ethics” Graduate Theological Union Seminary at Berkeley (June, 2003).
“Judaism and Environmentalism: Uneasy Relations,” San Diego State University” (September 21, 2003).
“Teaching Judaism and Ecology,” in “Teaching Religion and Ecology,” at Indiana University, Bloomington (October 23-26, 2003), a workshop organized by Forum on Religion and Ecology, the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University, and the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion.
“The Science of Character in Medieval Judaism,” for a panel on “Law, Character and Authority: Jewish Virtue Ethics, Past and Present,” American Academy of Religion Annual Conference (Atlanta, November 22-24, 2003).
“Can Women Be Happy?: Gender in Maimonides’ Philosophy,” Amado Colloquium in Sephardic Studies (UCLA, May 23, 2004).
“A Feminist Examination of Maimonides’ Political Theology,” Annual
Convention of American Academy of Religion (San Antonio Texas, November
20, 2004).
“Gender and the Pursuit of Happiness in Maimonides’ Philosophy,” Conference on “Gender and the Family in Medieval Jewish Society,” Hebrew University (Jerusalem, January 2, 2005).
“Conceptions of the Other: Gender, Philosophy, and Theology,” for a conference “Toward a Contemporary Jewish Theology of World Religions,” University of Scranton (June 21-23, 2005).
“Nature in Second-Temple Judaism: Ben Sira, Wisdom of Solomon and I Enoch,” Seminar of Judaism and Christianity in the Greco-Roman World, convener: Prof. Martin Goodman, Oxford University (England, May 23, 2006).
“Jewish Philosophy, Human Dignity, and the New Genetics,” conference on “In the Image of God: Creation, Procreation, and the New Genetics,” organized by Academic Coalition of Jewish Bioethics and held at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York (September 10-11, 2006).
“In Pursuit of Happiness: Jewish Self-Definition between Rationalism and Mysticism,” conference on “Major Controversies in Jewish History: The Issues and Personalities that Fuelled Them,” University of Connecticut, Stamford (Nov. 6-7, 2006).
“Human Embodiment and Dignified Death: A Critique of Transhumanism,” Conference on “Extending Life: Setting the Agenda for the Ethics of Aging, Death, and Immortality,” organized by the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity (Phoenix, March 6-7, 2008).
Panels:
Organizer and Chair, “Spinoza on Philosophy and Theology,” Association of Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Boston (November, 1986).
Organizer and Chair, “Ideology and Self-Perception: The Construction of Modern Jewish Identities,” Association of Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Boston (December, 1990).
Organizer and Chair, “The Jewish Mystical Tradition,” American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature, Regional Meeting, Atlanta (March, 1991).
Organizer and Chair, “Orality and Literacy in Rabbinic Judaism: The Jewish Mystical Tradition,” American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, New Orleans (November, 1991).
Organizer and Chair, “The Hermeneutics of Visual Experience in Judaism” American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, San Francisco (November, 1992).
Chair, “Jewish Aristotelianism,” Association of Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Boston (December, 1992).
Chair, “Jewish Philosophy in the Late Middle Ages,” The World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem (June, 1993).
Chair, “ Loss and Absence in the Jewish Tradition – Hermeneutical and Ritual Responses,” American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, Kansas City (November, 1993).
Organizer and Chair, “Can there be a Jewish Ethics,” American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, Chicago (November, 1994).
Respondent to a panel on my “Dare to Know – Feminism and Jewish Philosophy,” Academy for Jewish Philosophy, Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Boston (December, 1995).
Commentator on Elliot Wolfson’s Through the Speculum that Shines,” Association of Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Boston (December, 1995).
Organizer and Chair, “The Problem of Evil in Jewish Philosophy, Academy for Jewish Philosophy, Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference (December, 1997).
Chair, “Classical Kabbalah: Its Reception and Its Transformation,” Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Boston (December, 1998).
Chair, “Philosophy and Mysticism: Conflict and Confluence,” Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Chicago (December, 1999).
Organizer, “Plotinus and Jewish Philosophy,” Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Boston (December, 2000).
Organizer and Chair, “Jewish-Christian Relations-Methodological Reflections,” Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Washington D.C. (December, 2001).
Chair, “What is Relevant (for Us) in the Philosophy of Spinoza?” American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, Toronto (November, 2002).
Organizer and presenter, “Character, Law, and Authority: Jewish Virtue Ethics, Past and Present,” American Academy of Religion Annual Conference (November, 2003).
Panelist, “Teaching Jewish Mysticism – Challenges, Themes, and Methods,” Roundtable, Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies, (December 17-20, 2005).
Respondent to Ki Bbeum Yoo, “Ecofeminist Goddess Ritual: Contemporary Women’s Strategic Practice against Symbolic Violence of a Patriarchal Society,” in a conference on “Invoking Gender in Korean Religions,” ASU (Nov. 16-17, 2006).
Panelist, “The Future of Jewish Philosophy: Challenges and Promises,” Roundtable, Association of Jewish Studies (San Diego, December 17-19, 2006).
Panelist, “Is Kabbalah Mysticism?” Roundtable, Association of Jewish Studies, Toronto (December 17-20, 2007).
Organizer and Chair, “Jewish Environmental Thought,” Annual Convention of Association of Jewish Studies, Washington DC (December 21-23, 2008).
Panelist, “A Jew and Philosopher: Hans Jonas Retrospective,” Annual Convention of Association of Jewish Studies, Washington DC (December 21-23, 2008).
Panelist, "Roundtable on Gender and Jewish Thought," Brandeis University, (April 26-27, 2009).
Chair, session on Hannah Arendt and Franz Rosenzweig, Association of Jewish Studies (December 2009).
Workshops, Seminars, and Colloquia:
“Prayer in Jewish Mysticism,” Central Conference of American Rabbis, New England Region (March, 1986).
“Kabbalah and Sexuality,” Central Conference of American Rabbis, South-East Region (May, 1990).
“Spirituality: Encountering the Divine,” National Conference of Christian and Jews, Leakey Texas (January, 1991).
“Philosophy and Kabbalah in Medieval Spain,” Distinguished Leaders Institute, Brandeis University (July, 1992).
“The Good Life according to Maimonides,” The Foundation of Jewish Studies, Washington D.C. (February, 1998).
“Decision Making by Jewish Leadership,” San Diego Wexner Graduate Leadership Seminar,” (March, 2000; March, 2001).
“Healing Body/Healing Soul in Maimonides’ Rationalist Ethics,” for a conference on “Mining the Jewish Tradition for its Healing Wisdom.” The conference is organized by the Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health at the Hebrew Union College-Institute of Religion and Temple Chai of Phoenix (Scottsdale, May 16-18, 2003).
“Being Human: Science, Religion, Technology, and Law,” faculty seminar, ASU, (2004-2005; 2005-2006; 2006-2007).
“Modern Israel and Its Struggle for Survival,” for the President’s Community Enrichment
Program, ASU 2004-2005 (January 21 to Feb. 16, 2005).
“Virtue and Happiness in Medieval Judaism,” Rabbinic Training Institute, (January 8-12, 2006).
Scholar-in-Residence
“Kabbalah and the Myth of Judaism,” Anshe Shalom, Chicago (March, 1994).
“Jewish Spirituality: Between Philosophy and Kabbalah,” Bene Jeschurun, New York (November, 1998).
“Wholly, Holy Happy,” Temple Emanuel of South Hills and Beth El, Pittsburgh (February, 2000).
“Kabbalah: The Jewish Mystical Tradition,” Westchester Reform Temple, Scarsdale NY (April, 2000).
“Models of Jewish Spirituality,” Temple Beth El, Patchogue NY (May, 2003).
“New Developments in Contemporary Judaism:” 1) Judaism and Feminism” and 2) “Judaism, Ecology, and Gender,” Hillel Foundation-Kenyon College (September 10-11, 2005.
“Judaism and the Pursuit of Happiness,” Foundation of Jewish Studies, Washington DC (September 3-4, 2007).
“Judaism and Environmentalism,” Shalom Group of Leisure World, Mesa AZ (January 18, 2009).
“Jewish Ethical Wills in Historical Perspectives,” Jewish Community Foundation, Jewish Community Center, Scottsdale AZ (January 21, 2009).
“Judaism and a Sustainable Future,” Temple Beth Am, Master Teachers Series, Los Angeles (March 19, 2009).
“Kabbalah Today: The Contemporary Appeal of a Medieval Tradition” Temple Brith Shalom, Prescott AZ (May 15-16, 2009).
“Judaism and the Ecological Crisis,” Jewish Community Center of Foster City, CA (December 6, 2009).
Public Talks (as Director of Jewish Studies):
“Jewish Studies at ASU: A Look to the Future,” Temple Solel, Scottsdale AZ (May 14, 2008).
“Kabbalah and the Quest for a Modern Jewish Identity,” The New Shul, Scottsdale AZ (September 13, 2008).
“An Israeli Woman Studies Judaism: Challenges and the New Directions,” Hadassah-Prime Timers Chapter (October 29, 2008).
“Integrating Feminism and Jewish Studies”, Symposium on Women of the Book in the Jewish Tradition of Learning & Growing, Jewish Community Center, Scottsdale AZ (November 9, 2008).
“Transhumanism: A Jewish Critique,” ASU Retired Faculty Wives/Women’s Club Meeting (January 12, 2009).
“Israel Today: Promise and Challenge,” President Community Enrichment Program (October 22, 2009).
