Ruderman normally lectures at the University of Pennsylvania in the USA. As a guest in the department of Jewish History and Culture under the professorship of Michael Brenner, he will read "Modern Jewish Intellectual History" during this summer semester. He will also hold an advanced seminar on "The Transformation of Jewish Culture in Early Modern Europe".
David B. Ruderman as new Allianz fellow
Ruderman: "Like liberal Judaism, modern Jewish intellectual history and theology was constructed by German Jews in Hamburg in 1819. In this perspective my course is significant because it is actually about German intellectual history. My material is not just for Jews, it is for anyone; it's talking about modernity, the issue of religion in modernity and about German culture."
Prof. David B. Ruderman
Bringing "town and gown" together
After 35 years of academic work, Ruderman regards his task today as bringing "town and gown" together, i.e. promoting exchange between the universities and the Jewish communities. "Universities are there to serve the public. I appreciate that the LMU works so well with the Jewish community, the people of Munich and businesses like Allianz. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen every place else. In a way, I see Munich as a model for Europe," he says.
In Ruderman's view, the main focus is dialogue, irrespective of whether it involves exchange with students or dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. "It's very difficult to get people to talk to each other when they are at loggerheads. Creating a professorship here is a drop in the bucket, but I think it sends a signal."
Can tolerance be taught?
Another reason, despite all the political adversity, to seek dialogue between the cultures, to gain knowledge from others, increase mutual respect and, ultimately, to make tolerance for cultural differences possible. But is it really possible to teach this kind of tolerance?
Ruderman takes a realistic view of this question: "Education can teach us morality, but education alone does not make a person a more ethical human being. As a professor, teaching and interaction with young people is the most humanistic thing I can do; it does convey values and maybe breaks down some barriers."
35 years of academic studies and teaching
David B. Ruderman was born in New York in 1944. He obtained his Rabbi status in 1971 at Hebrew Union College, New York and his Ph.D. in 1975 at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Today, he holds the Joseph Meyerhoff Professorship of Modern Jewish History and is Director of the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Between 2000 and 2004 he was President of the American Academy for Jewish Research.
His research focuses on medieval and modern Jewish history as well as Jewish cultural studies. Ruderman has submitted numerous publications on Jewish history and culture in the early modern era, including "Jewish Enlightenment in an English Key: Anglo-Jewry's Construction of Modern Jewish Thought", for which he received the Koret Book Award.
The Allianz fellowship
After September 11, 2001, Allianz Group endowed a fellowship for Islamic and Jewish studies at Ludwig-Maximilian University as part of its societal commitment. With this initiative, the company wants to promote knowledge of Islamic and Jewish cultures and encourage dialogue. This commitment is based on the belief that many current international conflicts are aggravated by the lack of understanding for cultural differences.
Each semester, Allianz sponsors a different guest professor, teaching either Islamic or Jewish history and culture, to come to Munich. Thanks to Allianz's commitment, the LMU can greatly improve its interdisciplinary network of research and teaching in Islamic, Jewish, religious, cultural, philological and historical sciences.
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