26 January, 2026
Case Western Reserve University and its Siegal Lifelong Learning Programme hosts the new course, GEORGIAN JEWS AND THEIR CULTURAL TREASURES, designed and delivered by Dr Gomelauri, Director of the Oxford Interfaith Forum.
Georgian Jewry represent one of the most vibrant and significant expressions of Jewish life. It is the longest continuous Jewish community in diaspora that emerged during the Babylonian exile. Nonetheless, little is known about this unique Jamaat (Arabic word used by Georgian Jews for self-identification) and its historic cultural, religious, literary, and linguistic artefacts.
The home of Georgian Jews represents a major crossroad where multiple cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious communities intersect. The exploration of how they interacted with and shaped their neighbours’ material culture draws on a range of academic fields: Jewish Heritage, History of Christianity, Religious Studies, Medieval Manuscripts, Linguistics, Interfaith Relations, and Early Modern Narratives.
Dr Gomelauri approaches the topic through a diverse collection of visual and textual culture utilising Georgian, Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic texts, epigraphic artefacts, and excavated material items. Studying these sources shines fresh light on highly significant but understudied episodes of Eurasian historiography and challenges some assumptions about medieval history. This six-week remote course covers the history of Jewish settlement in Georgia from the classical period to the present day, including miracle-working artefacts such as The Lailashi Codex: Crown of Georgian Jewry, and the introduction to the unique Judeo-Georgian language Qivruli.
Registration opens on 16 February, 2026.
More information: https://case.edu/lifelonglearning/courses/courses-subject/jewish-studies/georgian-jewry-and-their-cultural-treasures-remote
