ABSTRACTS* *The complete version is expected soon

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1 An International Conference BGU, Beer-Sheva, Israel - Dec , 2010 "...and Abraham dwelt at Beer-Sheba" (Gn. 22, 19] ABSTRACTS* *The complete version is expected soon Abel's Gaze: Levinas Reads Cain Michal Ben Naftali (Tel Aviv University) In "Levinas reads Cain" I would suggest several fictive scenes, in the spirit of the opening pages of Fear and Trembling, all based on Levinas's own thinking, though elaborating readings in the Biblical scene he did not actually suggest. What was Levinas's own focus in reading Genesis 4 and why? What is the significance of transforming Cain's question into an ethical imperative? In the face of a certain equivalence between Freud's notion of parricide and the constitution of morality, on the one hand, and Abel's murder and the constitution of an ethical subjectivity as already always guilty in Levinas's perspective, on the other hand, why did Levinas choose not to form Cain as a paradigmatic figure in his thought? And last but not least, could we read the relations of Levinas-Blanchot, Levinas-Kierkegaard, and Levinas-Neher [referring to the latter's Notes sur Koheleth] by using the fraternal Cain-Abel plot? Was Levinas a philosopher of "All is vanity" [Ha'kol Hevel]? Joseph Skeleton in the Closet Hanoch Ben Pazi [Bar-Ilan University] The last chapters of Genesis relate one of the most exciting stories in the Bible, the story of Joseph (Hebrew: Yosef). The story of the House of Jacob's raises very important issues regarding familial conflicts and inter-subjective relationships. The theological meaning of these stories is connected with their ethical significance, as one can see, for example, in Thomas Mann's reinterpretation of those stories in his novel Joseph and His Brothers. A midrash building on the biblical story describes Moses on the night of the Exodus standing next to the Nile and looking for the coffin of Joseph. He is seeking to fulfill the oath of the Children of Israel to Joseph: on the day of redemption they have to take his bones with them to the land of Canaan. The Talmudic midrash continues and describes, picturesquely, the way that Israel walk in the desert with Joseph's coffin (the term for which in Hebrew, teivah, is the same as that for an ark ). Across the desert, one midrash tells us, the Israeliites coming out of Egypt carried the remarks of Joseph in an ark alongside the Ark of the Covenant. Passers-by were astonished. What did these two arks in the desert signify? They were told: This one is a coffin of a dead man and that one is the ark of Him who lives eternally. (Difficult Freedom, p. 55) In this lecture I will seek to understand the voice that calls from the ark. What is the significance of Joseph in the eyes of Levinas? My aim is to explore two different aspects of these stories: the political aspect and the question of forgiveness. 1

2 The first discourse follows political responsibility and sees Joseph as the ethical model of political leadership, the mashbir (provider) and his obligation to the hungry people. (Totality and Infinity, pp ): "Kingship in Israel is always Joseph feeding the people. To think of Men's hunger is the first function of politics." (Beyond the Verse, p. 18). The second discourse follows the question of forgiveness through the relationship between Joseph and his brothers. This is the narrative of master and slave, injury and forgiveness, love and hate, and the motivation for murder. "It is the story of the brothers who sold their brother into slavery. The exploitation of man by man would therefore be the prototypical offense, imitated by all offenses, even verbal." (Nine Talmudic Readings, p. 22). Is there a Jewish Context to Levinas? Ya'akov Blidstein (Ben-Gurion University) This paper considers Levinas Jewish connections. In general, its thrust is to read Levinas materials as authentically Jewish. A claim is made that Levinas typical introductory apology for presenting at all, is actually a hitherto unidentified Talmudic trope. Other readings are seen as being no less idiosyncratic than the philosophic exegesis of Philo or Maimonides. Parallels are found for other Levinasian moves, though Levinas remains characteristically himself. Indeed, I conclude with one instance where Levinas betrays the Talmudic text in the interest of his ideological position. Levinas, Bible, Midrash, and Myth (In Hebrew) David Brezis (CNRS, Paris) "היהדות כולה לא רצתה אולי אלא את קץ המיתולוגיות" כותב לוינס במאמר מ 1555 )שהופיע ב'חירות קשה'(. ב'כוליות ואין סוף', הוא חוזר ומכריז על האתיקה כנקייה מכל ממד מיתי, הטומן בחובו את האלימות של המקודש sacré(.)la violence du כך נוצר ניגוד חד-משמעי בין 'הלפני' המיתי לבין הצו האתי על פי המונותאיזם המקראי; בין הפסיביות של האני הנשלט בידי הכוחות האפלים של הנומינוזי, לבין היחס לאין סוף, שבו האני, גם בהיותו במידת מה 'מוצף', נהנה מעצמאות מסוימת, המובטחת לו על ידי נבדלותו מן האחר. עם זאת, הגותו של לוינס מתפתחת הלאה, ובעקבות 'אחרת מהיות', מתרחש מפנה בעל השלכות מרחיקות לכת. האני, החדל להיות עצמאי, מסור בעל כורחו לאחר בפסיביות רדיקלית. על כן ניתן לשאול אם איננו עדים כאן, במובן כלשהו, ל'חזרת המודחק המיתי'. כנגד ההשקפה המסורתית - שאותה מאמץ לוינס ללא סייג - בדבר הפרדה חדה בין המקרא לעולם המיתי שקדם לו, מקובל להעלות שני טיעונים מרכזיים: האחד נוגע לסיפור הבריאה יש מאין, הנפרד רק למראית עין מן המיתוסים הקוסמוגוניים. השני נוגע לסיפור עקידת יצחק, שלמרות המשמעות ההומניסטית, שהפירוש המודרני מבקש להעניק לו, עדיין מושרש בתפיסה קדומה, המכירה בערך הממשי של הקורבן. אך מכאן ניתן לתהות גם על היסודות המיתיים השקועים אולי בהגותו של לוינס עצמו: מחד, יחסו ל,il y a ממנו הוא נרתע, אף שאינו מפסיק להיות רדוף על ידו, כשם שהטקסט המקראי רדוף על ידי הכאוס הראשוני של הקוסמוגוניות. כך גם יחסו לרעיון הקורבן, אליו הוא נסחף במשיכה הולכת וגוברת, מעורר לכאורה את החשד של הידבקות במטענים האלימים של המיתוס. Ruth : The Meaning of a Conversion Catherine Chalier (Université Paris Ouest) Though Levinas does not - to my knowledge at least - put any particular emphasis on Ruth in his books, his philosophy underlines and deepens questions and analyzes that may help us understanding the principle events of this book in a new and profound light. I will emphasize three points: Conversion and departure; People and God; A messianic subjectivity. 2

3 Isaac Bound and Unbound Richard A. Cohen (University at Buffalo) The title of this paper refers not only to the biblical drama of the Akedah, the "binding of Isaac," but to Greek mythology, to the story of Prometheus, to the titles of two plays by Aeschylus: "Prometheus Bound" and "Prometheus Unbound." How does Levinas's ethical thought illuminate the dialogue and separation between Jewish monotheism and Greek mythology and aesthetics, the divergent paths of holy inwardness and Promethean accomplishment? Highness and Humility: Levinas on the Biblical Figure of Moses Joëlle Hansel (Raissa and Emmanuel Levinas Center, Jerusalem) The Biblical figure of Moses appears as a highly paradoxical one. On the one hand, Moses was the Father of all the prophets. He reached the highest degree of proximity to God who spoke to him face to face (Num. 12:8). On the other hand, he was Moses the man, the one who was very humble, more than any man on the face of the earth (Num. 12:3). This paradox Moses highness and humility is dealt with by Levinas in his philosophical and jewish writings. It is also the case with the theme of the burning bush. The aim of my paper is to show the close connection between Levinas understanding of Moses figure and the various stages in the evolution of his ethical metaphysics, from Existence and Existant to Otherwise than Being or Beyond Essence. Levinas and the Unnamed Balaam: On Idolatry and Ontology Annabel Herzog [University of Haifa] This paper is an analysis of the connection established by Levinas between sacredness, idolatry, sorcery and ontology. It focuses on two Talmudic Readings, Contempt for the Torah as Idolatry and Desacralization and Disenchantment. It shows that although the sorcerer Balaam (Numbers 22-25) is never mentioned in these Readings, he is their hidden protagonist, and the embodiment of the link between idolatry and ontology. The Time of Moses: Fecundity, Diachrony, and the Political Yael Lin (Ben-Gurion University) The moment preceding the death of Moses will serve as a concrete occassion for examining key themes in Levinas's thought. I will show that this episode, in which God presents before Moses the Promised Land, and mentions the covenant with the forefathers, illuminates Levinas s views of fecund time, diachronic time, as well as his ideas of responsibility and subjectivity. I will also suggest that Levinas's view opens up a new perspective for interpreting the severity of the punishment forbidding Moses to enter the Promised Land. Finally, this episode will serve as the background for considering Levinas's relation with the State of Israel, and for raising the question whether Levinas's project allows the move from the ethical to the political dimension. 3

4 The Meaning of the Abrahamic Adventure in Levinas's Thought. Ephraim Meir (Bar-Ilan University) In my lecture, I analyze some passages in Difficult Freedom that relate to Abraham, in order to characterize Levinas's Abraham. I demonstrate how Levinas's understanding of Abraham in his Jewish writings is relevant for what he writes in his other-centered philosophy. In his entire oeuvre, central themes appear, once in the language of Jerusalem, once in that of Athens. Cruel Justice and Moral Responsibility: On Levinas's Reading of the Gibeonites Gary D. Mole (Bar-Ilan University) This paper will attempt to respond to the invitation to consider the "concrete link between the Jewish experience and Levinasian themes" by analysing Levinas's brief but revealing comments on II Samuel 21 in which the Gibeonites demand justice of David for their previous treatment at the hands of Saul. Vulnerability, the persecution of the poor and destitute, responsibility, forgiveness, and justice are some of the ethical concerns raised both by the biblical text and the Talmudic commentaires solicited, and by Levinas's own exegesis resonant with Nazi persecution, the German Occupation of France, and the Shoah. While Levinas's actualization of the biblical episode is wholly consistent with his understanding of the Jewish reading of Scripture, I shall also attempt to go beyond his comments in order to question some aspects of their surplus signification. Hero of the Impossible Escape: The Figure of Jonah in Levinas Eli Schonfeld (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Shalom Hartman Institute) The prophet Jonah, while being a discrete figure in Lévinas writing, punctuates a fundamental moment in Lévinas thought: the impossibility of escaping. Jonah s drama, more than any other figure in Lévinas thought, portrays the drama of the impossible escape. This drama has a singular destiny in Lévinas work, which I will follow precisely by trying to understanding the different functions the figure of Jonah occupies in Lévinas economy of concepts, mainly in From existence to existent and in Otherwise than Being or Beyond Essence. My hypothesis is the following one: to be precise about what happens with the figure of Jonah from one text to the other from 1948 to 1974 means to unveil one of the most significant advancement in Levinas thinking. Aristotle Hegel and the Nazirite Shmuel Wygoda (Herzog College, The Van Leer Institute) The pivotal centrality of the ethical relationship towards the 'other' in the philosophy of Levinas is by now a true commonplace. Yet, while he has analyzed the many facets of this subject in most of his books and articles, it is interesting to notice that he almost never refers to any concrete behavior worthy to exemplify this noble ethical duty. A striking exception to this rule could be found in his description of the nazirite in Talmudic reading 'The youth of Israel'. What in the theme of the nazirite as well as in its particular description in the last page of Tractate Nazir made this intriguing figure so appealing for Levinas. Some of the key questions relevant to this question are explicit in Levinas' text while others are latent or implicit. I will aim to address both and show their inner relationship as well as their relevance to Levinas ethical philosophy. 4

5 The Figure of the Elected: Ezechiel in Levinas Raphael Zagury-Orly (The Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design) Election is certainly one of the most difficult ideas the history of philosophy has had to deal with. Firstly, because it is not a philosophical idea. It does not provoke the referentiality we could evoke when approaching traditional or classical philosophical concepts. Furthermore, and to render the situation more complex, few authors in the onto-theological tradition have spoken of election. Perhaps all have presupposed the idea of election, but few have actually seeked to furnish it its philosophical ground or foundation. That is few authors have spoken of this idea positively. We could certainly evoke Schelling, Hölderlin (in a more ethno-centric, nationalistic signification), but other than these two figures, one would certainly find it difficult to furnish a rich bibliography of authors for this idea. Levinas has entirely interpreted this idea of election by inscribing in and within it a singular form of response and responsibility, which ethically, invokes the proper name Ezechiel. The word of this prophet, in fact, plays a crucial role in the determination of this idea for Levinas. Our task will be to reveal in which manner the word of Ezechiel inhabits the Levinasian idea of election. 5