Programs
Department of Middle East Studies
The J.R. Elyachar Center for Studies in Sephardi Heritage and the Program for Oriental Jewish Heritage

Degrees
BA
MA

Courses
History
Introduction to the History of the Jewish People in North Africa and Muslim Spain during the Middle Ages
Medieval Jewish Communities in the Maghreb
Medieval Jewish Community and its Institution in the East and West
Role of the Jews in the Urban Economy of the Middle East and the Maghreb
Introduction to the History of the Jewish People in the Middle East during the Middle Ages
Historiography and Bibliography for the Introduction of the History of the Jewish People in the Middle East during the Middle Ages
History of the Spanish and Portuguese Communities in the Maghreb from the 15th to the 18th Centuries
History of the Jewish People in Islamic Countries
Religious and Social Currents in the Eastern and Spanish Jewish Communities at the End of the Middle Ages and Beginning of Modern Times
Fundamentals of Jewish History in Modern Times
Readings in the Writings of Kabbalists as Alkabez, Cordova, and Vital
Readings in the Halachik Literature
Readings in the "Or-Hashem" of Rabbi Hasdai Crescas
The Sephardi Diaspora and the Religious and Social Worlds of the Conversos during the 15th and 17th Centuries
Inquisition: Jews and Crypto-Jews in Spain and America (15th-17th Centuries): The First Encounter between Judaism and Islam

Language and Hebrew Literature
Jewish Folk-Tales
Literary Works of Sephardim after the Expulsion
Hebrew Narrating Art in the Middle Ages

Oriental Jewish Heritage Program
Jewish-Arab relations in the Middle East and North Africa
The Legal Status of Jews and Minorities in Islamic Countries in Modern Times
Problems of Integration in Israel
Rabbi Haim ben Attar and His Teachings: Ethics and Philosophy in Morocco during the 17th and 18th centuries
The Doctrine of Divinity in the Lurianic Kabbala
Judeo-espagnol (Ladino)  for Beginners
Judeo-espagnol (Ladino) and literature- Advanced

courses taught annually

Faculty
Nurit Ben-Zvi
Pichas Biblenik
Zvulum Buaron
Avraham Eilam-Amzalag
Matilda Koen-Sarano
Dan Manor
Nissim Qazzaz
Maurice M. Roumani
Yossef Sharvit

Students
300 (40/60 female/male ratio)

Director
Maurice M. Roumani

Scholarships/Graduate Support
A number of grants and scholarships offered through the University; a fund is available for research assistantships at the J. R. Elyacher Center.

Inquiries
Dror Ze’evi, Chairperson
Department of Middle East Studies
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Beersheva 84105
Israel
972-7-6472538
fax 972-7-6472952
zeevi@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
www.bgu.ac.il/mideast/
www.bgu.ac.il