האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים The Hebrew University of Jerusalem הכינוס הבין-לאומי השלישי על דתות ותנועות דתיות בעת החדשה

האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
הכינוס הבין-לאומי השלישי

על דתות ותנועות דתיות בעת החדשה

ביהדות, נצרות ואסלאם והדתות הבאבית והבהאאִית
הר הצופים ירושלים טז – יח באדר ב ה'תשע"א



The Third International Conference on

Modern Religions and Religious Movements

in Judaism Christianity and Islam

and the Bábí-Bahá’í Faiths

Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, March 22-24, 2011
Academic Committee
Professor Reuven Amitai Dean, Faculty of Humanities

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Professor (Emer.) Moshe Sharon Chair Bahá’í Studies

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Professor Yael Ben Tor Chair Department of Comparative Religion, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Professor Yoram Bilu The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Professor (Emer.) Etan Kohlberg The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Professor Yair Zakovitch The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Administration

Nahum Regev (Associate Dean of Humanities

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Convener: Professor Moshe Sharon

Conference Coordinator: Ami Schrager

Abstracts editor: Sivan Lerer

Chief Assistants: Meirav Fisher, Linda Egger

Musical Director: Dr. Y. Hafuta

Design: M. Sharon.

Printers: Office Services Unit, The Hebrew University.
Front cover: Sunrise over the Sea of Galilee.

Page three: The Rothberg Theatre on Mount Scopus, the site of the Hebrew University Opening Ceremony in 1925.

Back cover: University Employees Choir.
Former conferences:

Convened at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel 17-21 December 2000.

Convened at the Landegg Academy, Schwendi, Switzerland 27-29 May 2002.



האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Faculty of Humanities

The Chair in Bahá’í Studies The Department of Comparative Religion

The Third International Conference on
Modern Religions and Religious Movements in Judaism Christianity and Islam

and the Bábí-Bahá’í Faiths

Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, March 22-24, 2011

Conference Participants

(in alphabetical order of surnames)

1. 
   Reuven Amitai, Dean, Faculty of Humanities,
   

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

2. 
   Helen Agahi, Sheffield Hallam University, UK.
   
3. 
   Lena Arava-Novotna, HTF Charles University, Czech Republic
   
4. 
   Meir Bar-Asher, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
   
5. 
   Menahem Ben Sasson, President, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
   
6. 
   Yael Ben Tor, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
   
7. 
   Itamar Baum, Germany
   
8. 
   Yoram Bilu, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
   
9. 
   Meir Buzaglo, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
   
10. 
    Amín Egea, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain
    
11. 
    Shelley Elkayam, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar-Ilan University, Israel
    
12. 
    Yohanan Friedmann, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
    
13. 
    Minou Fouadi, Imperial College of Science, London, UK
    
14. 
    Yoni Garb, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
    
15. 
    Muna Golmohamad, UK
    
16. 
    Yusri Hazran, Truman Institute- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
    
17. 
    Meir Hatina, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
    
18. 
    Ann Hinton, Australia
    
19. 
    Phillip Hinton, Australia
    
20. 
    Boaz Huss, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
    
21. 
    Moshe Idel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
    
22. 
    Etan Kohlberg, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
    
23. 
    Stephen Lambden, University of California, Merced, USA
    
24. 
    Sivan Lerer, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
    
25. 
    Alexander Linkov, Bulgaria
    
26. 
    Denis MacEoin, UK
    
27. 
    Hoda Mahmoudi,. BWC and University of Haifa
    
28. 
    Susan Maneck, Jackson State University, USA
    
29. 
    Udo Mischek, Institut für Religionswissenschaft, Universitaet Goettingen, Germany
    
30. 
    Moojan Momen, UK
    
31. 
    Wendi Momen, UK
    
32. 
    Yael Nathan, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
    
33. 
    Eldad Pardo, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
    
34. 
    Bahman Payman, USA
    
35. 
    Sorour Payman, USA
    
36. 
    Sholeh Quinn, University of California, Merced, USA
    
37. 
    Vahid Ra’fati, , BWC, Haifa
    
38. 
    Julia Rubanovich, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
    
39. 
    Serge Ruzer, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
    
40. 
    Ben Schewel, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
    
41. 
    Ami Schrager, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
    
42. 
    Soli Shahvar, University of Haifa, Israel
    
43. 
    Moshe Sharon, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
    
44. 
    Robert E. Stockman, Inst. for Bahá’í Studies, Wilmette Illinois, USA
    
45. 
    Noam Urbach, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
    
46. 
    Louis Venters, Francis Marion University, USA
    
47. 
    Itzchak Weismann, University of Haifa, Israel
    
48. 
    Siyamak Zabihi-Moghaddam, BWC and University of Haifa, Israel
    
49. 
    Yair Zakovitch, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
    

Programme

 Arrivals and early registration – Maiersdorf Faculty Club, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem

Monday 21 March 2011
 Day One

Tuesday, 22 March 2011

08:00 – 09:00 Registration – Rabin Building of Jewish Studies
Session I: Aspects of New Religious Movements

Venue: Room 3001, Rabin Building of Jewish Studies

 Chair: Professor (Emer.) Yohanan Friedmann, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

9:20 Opening remarks by the chairman

09:30 – 10:00 Meir Buzaglo (Israel): The Promise of Monotheism.

10:00 – 10:30 Shelley Elkayam (Israel): The Unification Church - A New World Religion of the 20th Century.

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break

Session II: East to West: The Bahá’í Venture Overseas

Venue: Room 3001, Rabin Building of Jewish Studies

 Chair: Professor (Emer.) Minou Fouadi, Imperial College of Science, London, UK.

11:00 – 11:30 Yael Natan (Israel): The Spread of the Bahá’í Faith – from East to West.

11:30 – 12:00 Robert H. Stockman (USA): ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Visit to North America, 1912: An analysis.

12:00 – 12:30 Louis Venters (USA): Most Great Reconstruction: The South Carolina Bahá’í Movement in American History.
12:30 – 14:30 Lunch
Session III: Modern Aspects of Islamic Heterodoxy

Venue: Room 3001, Rabin Building of Jewish Studies

 Chair: Professor (Emer.) Etan Kohlberg, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

14:30 – 15:00 Yohanan Friedmann (Israel): The Prophetology of the Ahmadi Movement.

15:00 – 15:30 Udo Mischek (Germany): Ghulām Ahmad and the Rating of the Other.

15:30 – 16:00 Yusri Hazran (Israel): Heterodox Doctrines in Contemporary Islamic Thought: The Druze as a Case Study.
16:00 – 16:30 Coffee Break

Session IV: Evoking the Past: Reflections on Modern Sunnī and Shī‘ī Teachings.

Venue: Room 3001, Rabin Building of Jewish Studies

 Chair: Dr. Meir Hatina, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

16:30 – 17:00 Itzchak Weismann (Israel): Mahmūd Shukrī al-Alūsī and the Salafī Circle in Late Ottoman Iraq.

17:00 – 17:30 Eldad Pardo (Israel): Iran’s Khomeinism as a Modern Religion.

Conference Opening Ceremony and Reception

Venue: the Dan Wassong Auditorium, Rabin Building of Jewish Studies

 Chair: Professor (Emer.) M. Sharon, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

19:00 Opening Remarks - Professor M. Sharon

19:10 Greetings - Professor M. Ben Sasson, President,

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Professor R. Amitai, Dean, Faculty of Humanities,

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

19:30 Keynote Address – Professor M. Idel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem: The Renascence of Abraham Abulafia in the Last Generation.

20:00 Musical programme: University Choir conducted by Dr. Y. Hafuta.

20:30 Reception

 Day Two

Wednesday, 23 March 2011

Session I: Modern Trends in Judaism

Venue: Room 3001, Rabin Building of Jewish Studies

Chair: Professor Yoram Bilu, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

09:00 – 09:30 Jonathan Garb (Israel): Mussar as a Modern Movement.

09:30 – 10:00 Boaz Huss (Israel): The Foundation, History, and Ideology of Early 20^th Century Jewish Theosophical Movements.

10:00 – 10:30 Serge Ruzer (Israel) Jewish Christianity in 20th Century Russia as a Form of Jewish National Revival.

.

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break

Session II: The Language of Texts

Venue: Room 3001, Rabin Building of Jewish Studies

 Chair: Professor Hoda Mahmoudi, BWC and the University of Haifa.

11:00 – 11:30 Stephen Lambden (UK, USA): An Examination of the Risāla Khasā˒il Sab˓a (The Treatise of the Seven Directives) of the Báb and its Early Religio-Legal Admonitions.

11:30 – 12:00 Sivan Lerer (Israel): Lawh-i-fu’ád as a Bahá’í Morality Play.

12:00 – 12:30 Sholeh A. Quinn (USA): The Mi’rāj in Shaykhī, Bábí, and Bahá’í Texts.

12:30 – 14:30 Lunch

Session III: Guardian, Guardianship – Shī‘ī Origins Bahá’í Institution

Venue: Room 3001, Rabin Building of Jewish Studies

 Chair: Dr. Vahid Ra’fati, Centre for the Study of the Texts, BWC, Haifa.

14:30 – 15:00 Ben Schewel (Belgium): Energetics in the Writings of Shoghi Effendi and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

15:00 – 15:30 Denis MacEoin Imamite Wilāya from al-Ahsā’ī to Shoghi Effendi and the Bahá’í Line of the Guardian.

15:30 – 16:00 Moojan Momen (UK): The Re-Creation and Utilisation of a Community’s Memories: Shoghi Effendi and Bahá’í History.

16:00 – 16:30 Coffee Break

Session IV: Communities

Venue: Room 3001, Rabin Building of Jewish Studies

 Chair: Professor Meir Bar-Asher, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

16:30 – 17:00 Lena Arava-Novotna (Czech Republic): The Bydzhov Israelites and the Frankists – Two Sects in 18th Century Bohemia – Similarities and Differences.

17:00 – 17:30 Noam Urbach (Israel): Stretching the Borders of Religious Legitimacy: Bahá’ís and Latter-day Saints in China.

19:30 Naw Ruz Celebrations. (Courtesy of the Bahá’í World Centre)

Optional, for participants only; confirmation needed.

 Day Three

Thursday, 24 March 2011

Session I: Dissemination of Faith and Knowledge

Venue: Room 3001, Rabin Building of Jewish Studies

 Chair: Dr. Julia Rubanovich, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

09:00 – 09:30 Soli Shahvar (Israel): For God, the Faith and Mammon: Haji Sayyid Mīrzā Muhammad-Taqī Shīrāzī and the Propagation of the Bahá’í Faith.

09:30 – 10:00 Siyamak Zabihi-Moghaddam (BWC): Promoting Sexual Equality through Education: Bahá’í Girls’ Schools in Iran, 1909-1935.

10:00 – 10:30 Wendi Momen (UK): The Two Wings of Humanity.

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break

Session II: Aspects of Bábí- Bahá’í Message

Venue: Room 3001, Rabin Building of Jewish Studies

 Chair: Dr. Soli Shahvar, University of Haifa, Israel

11:00 – 11:30.Susan Maneck (USA): A Nineteenth Century Zoroastrian-Bahá’í Dialogue: Manakji Limji Hataria and Bahá’u’lláh.

11:30 – 12:00 Amín Egea (Spain): The Báb and the Bábís, Early Accounts in the Western Press 1845-1851.

12:00 – 13:00 Early Launch

Visit to excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem
19:00 - Closing Ceremony

Venue: the Cellar Theater Mount Scopus

Concluding Remarks:

Professor Yael Ben Tor, Chair, Department of Comparative Religion The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

PORTALS TO FREEDOM

Solo Performance

By

Phillip Hinton (Australia):
Portals to Freedom, a ‘play for one actor’, adapted by Phillip Hinton from the book of the same name, is the story of Howard Colby Ives who, in 1911 was a minister in a Unitarian Church in New York. Ives was one of a number of leaders of thought and society figures who were privileged to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, during His visit to America in 1911/12. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, known to his followers as “The Beloved Master” was the eldest son of Bahá’u’lláh, the prophet founder of the Bahá’í Faith - now widely regarded as one of the world’s major religions.
Colby Ives’s encounters with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá profoundly altered the course of his life. He left his ministry in the church to become a devoted Bahá’í, and in 1937, published Portals to Freedom, a detailed memoir of his days in the presence of ‘The Master’. His odyssey of spiritual search and discovery are examined in this performance by Phillip Hinton, an actor whose 50 year career on stage and screen includes three years with Britain’s prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company, three seasons at the Chichester Festival Theatre, a period with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre, a host of TV roles in Britain and Australia and guest roles in several US television productions.
To-day Phillip lives near Sydney where he leads a busy life as actor and ‘voice-over’ artist. He has been a member of the Bahá’í Faith since 1961.
’Portals to Freedom’ has been performed extensively throughout Australia and New Zealand as well as Britain, China, South Africa, Malaysia, Canada and on three separate tours to the United States.


Conference Opening Ceremony and Reception

end of Day one
Venue: the Dan Wassong Auditorium, Rabin Building of Jewish Studies

 Chair: Professor (Emer.) M. Sharon, Chair Bahá’í Studies The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

19:00 Opening Remarks - Professor M. Sharon

19:10 Greetings - Professor M. Ben Sasson, President,

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Professor R. Amitai, Dean, Faculty of Humanities, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

19:30 Keynote Address – Professor M. Idel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem: The Renascence of Abraham Abulafia in the Last Generation.

20:00 Musical programme: University Employees Choir conducted by

Dr. Y. Hafuta.

20:30 Reception


This conference was made possible through the efforts

and contributions of

The Research and Development Authority,

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The Faculty of Humanities,

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The Chair in Bahá’í Studies,

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem