By Dr. Ronnie Perelis

Maimonides: Now and Then, a symposium organized by the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies and YU Museum, brought a packed house to the Center for Jewish History on Sunday December 17, 2023, to explore the complexity and brilliance of Maimonides life and legacy. Inspired by the YU Museum’s exhibition “the Golden Path: Maimonides Across Eight Centuries” the conference offered discussions of Rambam’s legal and philosophical works as well as explorations of how his ideas influenced and inspired the generations that followed. The wide-ranging presentations were capped off by Prof. James Diamond’s keynote address that revealed the carefully constructed architecture of ideas that runs through all of Maimonides’ writings.

The day’s celebration of scholarship was dedicated to our beloved colleague, Prof. Daniel Tsadik who regrettably passed away 30 days before. Daniel was the preeminent scholar of Iranian Jewry and his teaching and scholarship illuminated the wider world of Middle Eastern Jewry.

The Bernard Revel Graduate School was delighted to avail itself of this special opportunity to partner with the YU Museum for this event and create a forum for the wider YU community to come together and explore the living legacy of Maimonides, and we thank Terry and Gail Novetsky for their generous support and understanding of the centrality of scholarship and intellectual rigor to the project of Torah u-Madda.