Nov 30, 2004 -- Contrary to his reputation for rationalism, the Jewish philosopher Maimonides in his youth explored mysticism as a way to characterize the divine realm. This intriguing finding was offered by Moshe Idel, Max Cooper Professor of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, at a conference titled “Between Rashi and Maimonides: Themes in Medieval Jewish Law, Thought, and Culture,” held at YU Nov. 21–23. Professor Idel, a foremost authority on medieval Jewish mysticism, said that although Maimonides rejected mystical models later in life for ones more strictly philosophical, his explorations suggest that Jewish mysticism and Jewish philosophy are not as incompatible as once thought. Professor Idel was among a gathering of distinguished scholars from the United States, Canada, and Israel who discussed themes of Jewish scholarship from a time bracketed by two of Judaism’s greatest commentators. The conference focused on significant differences and similarities between medieval scholars from Ashkenaz (Northern France/Germany) and Sefarad (Spain/North Africa/Egypt), who were leading intellectual and spiritual lights during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a time that marks one of the most prolific periods in Jewish scholarship. The conference was timed to commemorate the 900th anniversary of Rashi’s death and the 800th of Maimonides’. The Bea and Leonard Diener Institute of Law at YU’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and the Rebecca Ivry Department of Jewish Studies at YU’s Stern College for Women sponsored the three-day conference. Both schools hosted the five sessions, which opened Sunday afternoon with discussion on “Methodologies of Legal Interpretation” at Cardozo’s Brookdale Center. “I’d like to note that this first session is taking place in Cardozo’s Moot Court and features Prof. J. David Bleich as the first speaker,” said Cardozo Professor Suzanne Stone, session chair, referring to the appropriateness of discussing legal interpretation in Cardozo’s training courtroom with the participation of the school’s Herbert and Florence Tenzer Professor of Jewish Law and Ethics. Professor Bleich addressed the gathering on the halakhic (Jewish legal) controversy between Rashi and Maimonides about the question of identity as related to humans and animals, particularly as it pertains to kashrut (Jewish dietary laws). Other participants in the conference included Prof. Nahum Rakover, of the Jewish Legal Heritage Society in Jerusalem; Prof. Ephraim Kanarfogel, E. Billi Ivry Professor of Jewish History at Stern College, and the conference’s organizer; Prof. Michelle Levine, assistant professor of Bible at Stern; Prof. Daniel Lasker of Ben-Gurion University in Israel; Prof. Menachem Kellner of Haifa University; and Prof. Robert Chazan of New York University. Professor Kanarfogel is editing a volume of the conference proceedings.