On Thursday 11 December 2025 at 6:00 pm, a new session of the “ÉBAF Thursdays” will take place on the theme “The miracle-working rabbis: a process of ‘Hasidisation’ of the Sages?”, presented by Br. Olivier Catel, assistant in Jewish literature and exegesis at the ÉBAF, the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem.
We shall explore the figure of the thaumaturgic rabbis — those sages of rabbinic Judaism to whom miracles or extraordinary signs are attributed — and examine the hypothesis that this phenomenon may stem from a process of “Hasidisation”, meaning a later influence or appropriation of Hasidic or mystical traditions by earlier rabbinic traditions. Through the analysis of ancient textual sources, the study of Talmudic narratives and later Jewish traditions, the aim will be to determine whether the image of the miracle-working rabbi already takes shape in ancient Judaism, or whether it is a later heritage, shaped by cultural and religious transformations.
A Doctor of Modern Letters from the University of Lyon III and holder of a Master’s degree in “Bible and the Ancient Near East” from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Olivier Catel is completing a second doctorate there in “Talmud and Jewish Law”, focusing on fasting in early Christian and rabbinic literature, submitted in 2025.
At the ÉBAF, he serves as assistant in Jewish literature and exegesis and plays an active role on the editorial committee of the programme “The Bible in Its Traditions” (BEST), which aims to produce critical and annotated editions of Scripture, bringing together Jewish and Christian traditions from a historical, philological, and theological perspective. If you are seeking a deeper understanding of the internal dynamics of rabbinic Judaism, the development of spiritual and miraculous representations, and the reception of religious models down the centuries, this lecture is for you.