News

Friday, November 28, 2025

Violence, a problem in Jewish thought?

Cycle of lectures 2026

The history of Israel is a history deeply marked by violence. Jewish people have far too often been its victims. Indeed, the history of humanity cannot be explained without acknowledging the brutality repeatedly suffered by Jewish communities in Europe.
The close link with violence, either to defend it or to reject it, is strongly present in Jewish thought. However, the current government of the State of Israel has openly embraced it in order to consolidate a Zionist project in Palestine.
Violence, however incomprehensible or shocking, demands attention and analysis. In this lecture series, we will examine how several Jewish thinkers have understood and theorized it.

Programme

January
Thursday 15 January - 6:30 p.m.
From the Bible to Flavius ​​Josephus: reflections on violence and war, by Joan Ferrer Costa, University of Girona.

March
Thursday 12 March - 6:30 p.m.
Simone Weil: the enemy is war, by Pau Matheu, University of Barcelona.

April
Thursday 16 April - 6:30 p.m.
War, power and violence in Hannah Arendt, by Fina Birulés, University of Barcelona.

Thursday 30 April - 6.30pm
What has happened to the humanistic values ​​of the Jewish tradition?, by Daniela Chiprout de Aparicio, JCall Barcelona association - Another Jewish voice.

May
Thursday 7 May - 6.30pm
Does the biblical God justify violence?, by Teresa Forcades, nun and philosopher.

June
Thursday 18 June - 6.30pm
Women and co-resistance in the Israel-Palestine conflict, by Marta Marín-Dòmine, University of Barcelona, ​​writer, and Faride Romano, ambassador of the Women for Peace project in Paris (Neve Shalom-Wahat al Salam).

You can access the recorded lectures thanks to the Digital Audio and Video Repository of the University of Girona (DUGI Media).

Catalan language.
Place: Nahmanides Institute for Jewish Studies
Free attendance with prior registration.

Dates from February to June will be confirmed shortly.

Organised by: Nahmanides Institute for Jewish Studies (Patronat Call de Girona) and Ferrater Mora Chair of Contemporary Thought (UdG).