Residential programme in Judaism and Jewish–Christian relations, May 2027

Provisional programme: the courses, the teachers and the dates may still change. The timetable will be published on this page when it is final.

At a glance

• Dates: four weeks, from Monday 3 to Monday 31 May 2027; classes from Monday to Friday, in the mornings and on some afternoons.
• Place: the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Jerusalem, with guided study visits.
• For: students who have completed a Licentiate or a Master’s degree.
• Credits: 30 ECTS: 18 for the courses and seminars, 12 for the final paper. A certificate of attendance is given at the end.
• Scholarships: will be provided.
• Information: Massimo Gargiulo, gargiulo@unigre.it; the Cardinal Bea Centre, judaicstudies@unigre.it.

The programme

This residential intensive programme is intended for students who have completed a Licentiate or a Master’s degree and wish to deepen their understanding of selected aspects of the Jewish tradition and Jewish–Christian dialogue. The programme will take place over four weeks in May 2027.

A distinctive feature of the programme is that all classes are held in the heart of Jerusalem, at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and are taught by faculty members from the Gregorian University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and other Jewish institutions.

Learning is therefore closely connected to the places themselves and takes place not only in the classroom but also through the lived experience of Israel. An integral part of the programme consists of guided study visits organised within the curriculum, allowing participants to engage directly with the historical, religious, and cultural contexts that shape Jewish tradition and Jewish–Christian relations.

At the end of the programme, students will be required to submit a final paper of approximately twenty pages. The paper should synthesise the significant themes that emerged throughout the individual courses, while providing an in-depth analysis of one topic of the student’s choice.

The programme involves the completion of a total of 30 ECTS, distributed as follows: 18 ECTS awarded through courses and seminars, and 12 ECTS for the final paper. Participants will receive a certificate of attendance upon completion of the programme.

Courses

The Passion Narratives of the Four Canonical Gospels: Exegesis of Selected Passages in Their Historical and Geographical Context, and Connections to Jewish–Christian Dialogue (3 ECTS)

Fr Giulio Michelini, OFM

Objectives. The aim of the course is to explore the four Passion narratives of the canonical Gospels, considering the theological perspectives of each evangelist and the specific characteristics of each narrative, while keeping in mind the key issues surrounding Jewish–Christian dialogue. We will begin with the question of the formation of the Passion narratives and then exegetically analyse selected texts from each narrative, from the perspective of their formation and their relationship to the history and geography of Jerusalem.

Learning outcomes. By the end of the course, students will have learned the fundamental concepts behind the formation of the narratives of Jesus’ Passion and will be familiar with the most significant themes regarding these narratives in Jewish–Christian dialogue.

Content. The course involves reading selected passages from the narratives of Jesus’ Passion in the four canonical Gospels, starting with historical questions and also addressing some archaeological implications regarding the city of Jerusalem. Sensitive issues for Jewish–Christian dialogue will be addressed, too, such as the “trial” of Jesus in the Sanhedrin, or the phrase “His blood is on us and on our children” (Matthew 27:25).

Methodology. Lectures, personal reading of texts and class discussion, and lessons at some sites of Jerusalem linked to the stories of the Passion.

Bibliography. R.S. Notley, M. Turnage, B. Becker (eds.), Jesus’ Last Week. Jerusalem Studies in the Synoptic Gospels, vol. 1, Jewish and Christian Perspectives 11, Brill, Leiden – Boston 2005; A.-J. Levine, “The New Testament and Anti-Judaism”, in The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus, Harper, San Francisco 2006, pp. 87–118; G. Michelini, Il sangue dell’alleanza e la salvezza dei peccatori. Una nuova lettura di Mt 26–27, Analecta Gregoriana 306, Gregorian and Biblical Press, Roma 2010; G. Michelini, «La lotta di Gesù sul Monte degli Ulivi e la resistenza antiromana. Interpretazione di Lc 22,39-46 tra narrazione e pragmatica», Convivium Assisiense 2 (2016), pp. 21–55; G. Michelini, «La passione di Gesù nei vangeli sinottici. Aggiornamento e bilancio delle recenti ricerche sulla morte di Gesù», in S. Zeni, C. Curzel (eds.), La speranza della Croce: stile del cristiano, EDB, Bologna 2017, pp. 13–54; G. Michelini, Personaggi anonimi nei vangeli della passione, Àncora, Milano 2022. Further bibliography will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Patristic Thought and Church History in Roman and Byzantine Palestine (3 ECTS)

Dr David Satran

Objectives. Students will acquire an overview of the principal figures and events that shaped Christian thought and history in the Holy Land during the Roman and Byzantine periods. The seminar will provide a first-hand acquaintance with key texts authored during that period by major theologians and historians.

Learning outcomes. By the end of the seminar, students will be able to read critically the theological and historical sources relating to the development of Christianity in the Holy Land before the coming of Islam. The bibliographical suggestions provided during the lectures will also enable students to navigate independently the study of the history of the Church during its formative centuries.

Content. Particular attention will be paid to presenting the thought and insights of individual authors. The role of the Church will be examined from a literary and historical perspective, with particular attention to the presence and influence of the Holy Land.

Methodology. The instructor will introduce the key ideas and events relating to central figures. Participants will be encouraged to discuss aspects of the literature and history of the period.

Bibliography. M. Simonetti, E. Prinzivalli, Letteratura cristiana antica. Antologia di testi, I–III, Piemme, Casale Monferrato 1996–1998; O. Limor, G.G. Stroumsa, Christians and Christianity in the Holy Land: From the Origins to the Latin Kingdoms, Brepols, Turnhout 2006; R.G. Hoyland, H.G.M. Williamson, The Oxford History of the Holy Land, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2018; P. Brown, The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200–1000, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford 1996, 2013; R.L. Wilken, The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity, Yale University Press, New Haven 2012. Primary sources will be distributed during the course, with the relevant research literature.

The Christian Life of Midrash: the Yalkut Shimoni and the Pugio Fidei in Dialogue (3 ECTS)

Rabbi Dr David Meyer

Objectives. This course examines a selected corpus of rabbinic traditions, primarily midrashic, preserved in two distinct medieval textual corpora: the Yalkut Shimoni (thirteenth century) within the Jewish tradition and the Pugio Fidei (late thirteenth century) within the Christian tradition of anti-Jewish polemics. Through a comparative reading of these parallel textual witnesses, participants will investigate the transmission, reception, and reinterpretation of rabbinic traditions across Jewish and Christian intellectual contexts.

Learning outcomes. Students will be familiarised with the hermeneutics of Midrash, the reading of early print, and the deciphering of Hebrew manuscripts.

Content. The course is structured around a central paradox: texts assembled for the purpose of religious controversy may nevertheless constitute privileged sites of textual dialogue. Although the Pugio Fidei appropriates rabbinic traditions in the service of Christian apologetics, it also preserves a substantial body of Jewish textual material whose comparison with the Yalkut Shimoni illuminates both corpora. By reading these textual witnesses together, the course explores how polemical transmission itself may generate the conditions for renewed philological, historical, and theological dialogue between Judaism and Christianity.

Methodology. Following an introduction to Midrash, to the Yalkut Shimoni and to the Pugio Fidei, the course will focus on close readings of selected midrashim with particular polemical significance. Texts will be studied in Hebrew, accompanied by a linear and literal translation, and examined in the light of manuscript evidence, early printed editions of the rabbinic tradition, and the autograph manuscript of the Pugio Fidei. Particular attention will be paid to the ways in which these textual witnesses preserve, reshape, and recontextualise rabbinic teachings, and to the insights their comparative reading offers for Jewish–Christian textual dialogue.

Bibliography. G.K. Hasselhoff, A. Fidora (eds.), Ramon Martí’s Pugio fidei: Studies and Texts, Obrador Edèndum, Santa Coloma de Queralt 2017; P. Bobichon, “Quotations, Translations, and Uses of Jewish Texts in Ramon Martí’s Pugio fidei”, in The Late Medieval Hebrew Book in the Western Mediterranean, Brill, Leiden 2015; J. Elbaum, “Yalqut Shimʿoni and the Medieval Midrashic Anthology”, in D. Stern (ed.), The Anthology in Jewish Literature, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, pp. 159–175; R. Chazan, Daggers of Faith: Thirteenth-Century Christian Missionizing and Jewish Response, University of California Press, Berkeley 1989; J. Cohen, The Friars and the Jews: The Evolution of Medieval Anti-Judaism, Cornell University Press, Ithaca 1982. All the rabbinic texts will be provided from critical editions, with a linear and literal translation.

Jewish–Christian Relations in Contemporary Israel: History, Society, Theology, and Interreligious Encounters (3 ECTS)

Hana Bendcowsky

Objectives. This course examines the historical development and contemporary dimensions of Jewish–Christian relations in the Holy Land. It explores the diversity of Christian communities in Israel and their social, political, legal, and religious contexts, while examining how religion, education, law, and politics shape perceptions of Christianity and Christian communities within Israeli society. The course introduces contemporary Palestinian theological perspectives and their engagement with questions of identity, nationalism, and biblical interpretation. Through academic study and experiential learning, including encounters with Christian communities and visits to significant multi-religious sites, students will explore issues of majority–minority relations, power dynamics, and interreligious engagement.

Learning outcomes. By the end of the course, students will be able to analyse critically the historical, social, religious, and political factors shaping Jewish–Christian relations in the Holy Land. They will evaluate power relations between Jewish and Christian communities, engage with diverse theological perspectives, and recognise the complexity of Christian identities and social positions in Israel. Students will also develop the ability to examine the role of institutions, educational systems, and cultural narratives in shaping perceptions of the religious “other”, apply analytical tools to contested sacred spaces, and demonstrate informed and respectful engagement with diverse religious communities.

Content.

• Historical, religious, and cultural foundations of Jewish–Christian relations in the Land of Israel.
• The evolution of relations between the State of Israel and Christian communities.
• Indigenous Christian communities of the Holy Land: history, denominations, institutional structures, identities, and contemporary challenges.
• Non-indigenous Christian communities in Israel, including migrant workers, immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and Messianic Jews.
• Contemporary Palestinian theology and its approaches to the Holy Land, identity, biblical interpretation, Zionism, and nationalism.
• Religious diversity within Jewish society and its influence on attitudes toward Christians and Christianity.
• Representations of Christianity in education, rabbinic discourse, public debate, politics, and Israeli law.
• Religious education and approaches to teaching about religious diversity in a multi-religious society.
• Mount Zion and other pilgrimage sites as case studies of a shared and contested sacred space.
• Interreligious dialogue initiatives in Israel, including theoretical approaches and practical methodologies.

Methodology. Lectures, guided discussions, critical analysis of historical and theological texts, case studies, field visits to Christian and shared religious sites, and encounters with members of Christian communities and Jewish participants engaged in interreligious dialogue.

Bibliography. A.H. Grung, “Interreligious Dialogue: Moving between Compartmentalization and Complexity”, Approaching Religion 1/2 (2011); R.M. Hayden, “Antagonistic Tolerance: Competitive Sharing of Religious Sites in South Asia and the Balkans”, Current Anthropology 43/2 (2002), pp. 205–231; S.A. Kadayifci-Orellana, “Inter-Religious Dialogue and Peacebuilding”, in C. Cornille (ed.), The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Inter-Religious Dialogue, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester 2013, pp. 149–167; O. Limor, “Sharing Sacred Space: Holy Places in Jerusalem between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam”, in I. Shagrir, R. Ellenblum, J. Riley-Smith (eds.), In Laudem Hierosolymitani: Studies in Crusades and Medieval Culture in Honour of Benjamin Z. Kedar, Ashgate, Aldershot 2007, pp. 219–231; A. Ramon, Christianity and Christians in the Jewish State: Israeli Policy toward the Churches and Christian Communities (1948–2018), Israel Academic Press, Jerusalem 2021; M.K. Raveh, Under the Olive Tree: Palestinian Christian Theology from the 1980s to the Present, Baylor University Press, Waco TX 2025.