Call for Papers: International Conference on Kabbalah and Time, Ben-Zvi Institute
The Matanel Chair for the Study of Kabbalah and the Ben-Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East invite proposals for an international conference to be held from December 13 to 15, 2026. Its starting point is the warning in Tractate Hagigah against contemplating what is above and beneath, what was beforetime and what will be hereafter. Despite this admonition, Jewish mysticism has dealt extensively with beginning and end, time and eternity, from the relationship of world, year, and soul in Sefer Yezirah through the conception of time in the Zohar and the doctrine of cosmic sabbatical cycles to ideas of redemption in Lurianic Kabbalah and modern calculations of the End of Days in Hasidic, Lithuanian, and Religious Zionist circles. The conference pursues three axes: concepts of time in kabbalistic literature, the development of kabbalistic thought from philological, historical, and conceptual perspectives, and the place of Kabbalah within historical time. Papers may be given in Hebrew or English, and a limited number of travel stipends is available, with priority for early career scholars without a permanent position.
Deadline for proposals: September 10, 2026 | DETAILS
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