2020-21 Publications, Lectures and Awards
August 3, 2021
Deborah E. Lipstadt, MA’72, PhD’76, H’19 will serve as a special envoy to monitor and combat anti-semitism.July 16, 2021
"By identifying biblical intertexts and parallel phrases, we can better understand the flow, the imagery, and even the core message of Eichah, Lamentations."
July 1, 2021
Szobel's Flesh of My Flesh: Sexual Violence in Hebrew Literature and Israeli Culture explores the literary history of sexual assault in Hebrew literature.July 1, 2021
Abstract:
"This article argues that medieval Arabic-speaking Jews, unlike the rabbis of Late Antiquity, adopted a comparative framework for analyzing their beliefs, practices, laws, exegetical methods, and so on as analogous to those possessed by other groups. The paradigm shift is reflected in Judeo-Arabic writings that adopt al-yahūdiyya as the name of an independent entity that is a species of a broader genus. While it might be anachronistic to call this species “Judaism” and its genus “Religion,” the Jewish adoption of an entity that enfolds many of the elements scholars identify with the category Religion marks a milestone in Jewish thought. In the context of Islamic and Christian writing in Arabic, this article focuses on Judeo-Arabic sources composed between the tenth and twelfth centuries that present al-yahūdiyya as an emic term and then turns to Hebrew sources through the fifteenth century that also reflect a comparative framework."
Within the same journal (The Journal of Religion, Vol. 101, Number 3) is a transcription of a lecture on faith and reason that was delivered by Alexander Altmann at the University of Chicago in 1961 titled, "The Encounter of Faith and Reason in the Western Tradition and Its Significance Today."
June 21, 2021
A special Tribute to Professor Emeritus Antony Polonsky was held on Monday, June 21, 2021 on Zoom. Antony Polonsky made a speech at the event and we would like to share his remarks.
June 7, 2021
"After a rigorous nationwide search, the Board of Governors of Gratz College has unanimously selected Dr. Zev Eleff as the college’s new president. He will succeed Dr. Paul Finkelman, who served as president of Gratz College for four years..."
June 4, 2021
NEJS faculty are contributing to a forum on Alexander Kaye's The Invention of Jewish Theocracy.June 1, 2021
"This book is about the principal writings that shaped the perception of Turkey for informed readers in English, from Edward Gibbon’s positing of imperial Decline and Fall to the proclamation of the Turkish Republic (1923), illustrating how Turkey has always been a part of the modern British and European experience. It is a great sweep of a story: from Gibbon as standard textbook, through Lord Bryon the pro-Turkish poet, and Benjamin Disraeli the Romantic novelist of all things Eastern, followed by John Buchan's Greenmantle First World War espionage fantasies, and then Manchester Guardian reporter Arnold Toynbee narrating the fight for Turkish independence."
May 25, 2021
Jonathan Sarna publishes, "Marriage trends, political views undermining the notion of a unified American Jewish identity" in The Conversation.
May 24, 2021
Professor Amnon Cavari and Professor Alexander Kaye are the co-winners of the AIS Young Scholar Award:"'Prof. Cavari’s research focuses on both on Israeli Politics, as well as American Politics, its longstanding relationship with Israel, and the ties between both. Prof. Cavari has established himself as one of the most prominent scholars in these fields. In his works, Prof, Cavari challenges existing theories and alters conventional research agendas. He examines multiple issues (such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, support for Israel among members of the US Congress) and perspectives (including the role of the media), as well as policy agendas in Israel. He has also drawn on his extensive knowledge of these critical questions to publish several policy papers.'"
"'Prof. Alexander Kaye’s particular interest is the legal thinking of Orthodox Zionists in the twentieth century. His work, and particularly his study about the relationship between law, religion and politics in Mandatory Palestine and Israel, has been uniformly praised and he has provided an original and useful contribution to the field of Israel studies. Prof. Kaye’s books and articles demonstrate his depth, intellectual complexity and ability to highlight new perspectives in a way that only few scholars have done, so early in their careers.'"
May 11, 2021
April 29, 2021
April 27, 2021
Yehudah Mirsky was interviewed by Kann 11, Israel's national public broadcasting station, for a series on the Chief Rabbinate.
Watch the interview.
(Works best to watch the YouTube video if you have a VPN)
April 21, 2021
Yehudah Mirsky's interview with Kan-Moreshet discusses Yehudah's book, Rav Kook: A New Perspective, which is a revised and translated version of his book from 2014 and is geared towards an Israeli readership.
April 6, 2021
Lynn Kaye wins the 2020 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award for Time in the Babylonian Talmud: Natural and Imagined Times in Jewish Law and Narrative (Cambridge University Press) in the category of Biblical Studies, Rabbinics, and Jewish History & Culture in Antiquity.
April 6, 2021
Alan Brill interviews Alexander Kaye on the Invention of Jewish Theocracy.Golan Moskowitz, Tulane Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies, hosted a discussion on illustrator and children's author Maurice Sendak, joined by acclaimed authors Gregory Maguire and Brian Selznik and moderated by Marah Gubar, Associate Professor of Literature at MIT. "Plug In: Your Virtual Connection to Tulane" and the Stuart and Suzanne Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience sponsored the event. Professor Moskowitz’s latest book Wild Visionary: Maurice Sendak in Queer Jewish Context, was published by Stanford University Press in December 2020. He received his PhD in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University.
March 25, 2021
"UDR for Religious Studies, Jaiden Aerial Kay Gividen ’21 (NEJS major and Religious Studies minor), has interviewed Darlene Brooks Hedstrom (the Myra and Robert Kraft and Jacob Hiatt Associate Professor in Christian Studies in the Departments of NEJS and Classical Studies) for this issue of MUSE. Professor Brooks Hedstrom explains how studying the past can make us face all sorts of issues related to racial inequity, social justice, and diversity, which her work in archaeology and the material culture of past civilizations shows," (Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow, MUSE, Vol. 10).
Abstract:
The article discusses the historical factors behind the rise of a new Christian Aramaic nationality in Israel, and its recognition by the state in 2014. It debunks the traditional claims that this phenomenon is mainly a present-day attempt by Israel to separate Christians from Arab society. Examining the phenomenon through a wide historical perspective demonstrates the link between the rise of national perception among Christians living among Muslims in Middle Eastern countries, and the development of a new national identity among Christians living in the Jewish state of Israel.
March 25, 2021
Yehudah Mirsky publishes a new article in Foreign Policy.March 9, 2021
February 12, 2021
In "Wild Visionary: Maurice Sendak in Queer Jewish Context" (Stanford University Press, 2020), Golan Moskowitz investigates the evolution of Sendak’s artistic vision and its appeal for American, Jewish, and queer audiences. The present talk will offer a pointed discussion of Wild Visionary, illuminating how Sendak’s multiple perspectives as a gay, Holocaust-conscious, American-born son of Yiddish-speaking Polish immigrants informed his life and work. It will also explore how the artist’s work interacted dynamically with his cultural surroundings, offering insights into experiences of marginality and emotional resilience that remain relevant and visionary to this day.February 12, 2021
Cheyenne Paris, a NEJS/COEX student expected to receive her MA in May 2021, and others have been awarded with The Witness Institute's two-year fellowship for emerging leaders!Simon Rawidowicz (1896–1957) was the founder of NEJS and one of the most innovative, if also underappreciated, Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century. He was a partner in conversation with many of the leading Jewish cultural or political figures of the first half of the century including David Ben-Gurion, Chaim Nahman Bialik, Martin Buber, and Simon Dubnow. His distinctive theory of "Babylon and Jerusalem" remains one of the most interesting formulations of Jewish national ideology, as it sought to mediate between the poles of Zionism and Diasporism. This volume captures Rawidowicz’s multiple and overlapping concerns – both scholarly and contemporary – as well as the distinctive rich timbre of his Hebrew style. All those interested in modern Jewish thought, the relationship between Israel and Diaspora, the recurrent "Arab Question" in Zionist and Israeli politics, and the state of Jewish people will find benefit in this collection of new or hardly known texts from the pen of Simon Rawidowicz.
An electronic version of "Between Babylon and Jerusalem" is freely available online.
Our own Jonathan Krasner won the award in Education and Jewish Identity for his Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps, Sarah Bunin Benor, Jonathan Krasner, and Sharon Avni.
December 14, 2020
The webinar was recorded on 9 December 2020. View video
"Lights and gatherings are an especially meaningful symbol of hope, celebration, warmth, and remembrance for many at this time of year. In this historic presidential election year, be inspired through an exploration of how the holidays come alive at the White House. Dr. Jonathan Sarna, the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, will discuss the tradition of Hanukkah celebrations at the White House. Stewart McLaurin, President of the White House Historical Association, will discuss the 2020 White House Christmas ornament commemorating President John F. Kennedy."
December 12, 2020
Saturday, Dec. 12, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon (eastern time) on Zoom
Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom gives a lecture for the Providence Patristics Group and Boston Area Patristics Group/Patristica Bostoniensia.
December 9, 2020
"This is the second piece in a series sponsored by Tevel b’Tzedek that examines the concept of Tikkun Olam through conversations with some of the Jewish world’s best minds. The full videotaped conversation with Yehuda Mirsky, professor of Jewish Thought at Brandeis University and author of the acclaimed “Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution,” can be seen here."Wild Visionary: Maurice Sendak in Queer Jewish Context (Stanford University Press) by recent PhD alum, Golan Moskowitz, was published this month!
This is the first book-length study of Jewishness and queerness in the life and work of Maurice Sendak (creator of Where the Wild Things Are and many other picture-book classics).
Excerpt:
"The republication of caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in September 2020 led to protests in several Muslim-majority countries. It also resulted in disturbing acts of violence: In the weeks that followed, two people were stabbed near the former headquarters of the magazine and a teacher was beheaded after he showed the cartoons during a classroom lesson.
Visual depiction of Muhammad is a sensitive issue for a number of reasons: Islam’s early stance against idolatry led to a general disapproval for images of living beings throughout Islamic history. Muslims seldom produced or circulated images of Muhammad or other notable early Muslims. The recent caricatures have offended many Muslims around the world.
This focus on the reactions to the images of Muhammad drowns out an important question: How did Muslims imagine him for centuries in the near total absence of icons and images?"
November 27, 2020
Lynn Kaye is the 2020 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award Winner of the wide ranging fields of Biblical Studies, Rabbinics, and Jewish History and Culture in Antiquity for her book, Time in the Babylonian Talmud: Natural and Imagined Times in Jewish Law and Narrative (Cambridge U. Press).December 1, 2020
Michal Shaul’s Holocaust Memory in Ultraorthodox Society in Israel is the most recent publication in our series: Perspectives on Israel Studies (sponsored by the Schusterman Center of Israel Studies of Brandeis University and the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev).
In Holocaust Memory in Ultraorthodox Society in Israel, Michal Shaul highlights the special role that Holocaust survivors played as they rebuilt and consolidated Ultraorthodox society. Although many Haredi were initially theologically opposed to the creation of Israel, they have become a significant force in the contemporary life and politics of the country. Looking at personal and public experiences of Ultraorthodox survivors in the first years of emigration from liberated Europe and breaking down how their memories entered the public domain, Shaul documents how they were incorporated into the collective memories of the Ultraorthodox in Israel.
Holocaust Memory in Ultraorthodox Society in Israel offers a rare mix of empathy and scholarly rigor to understandings of the role that the community's collective memories and survivor mentality have played in creating Israel's national identity.
November 4, 2020
Reuven Kimelman's chapter, "Israel’s Election and the Moral Dilemma of Amalek and the Seven Nations of Canaan" is published in Judaism’s Challenge: Election, Divine Love, and Human Enmity edited by Alon Goshen-Gottstein.
October 28, 2020
Lynn Kaye's article titled "Sacred Time and Rabbinic Literature: New Directions for an Old Question" is published by the Journal of the Academy of Religion.October 22, 2020
MUSE, the newsletter of the Division of the Humanities, publishes its latest edition. This month, it features a student interview (carried out by Madeleine Cahn, '21, Lead UDR for the Division of the Humanities) of Professor Jonathan Sarna, the one University Professor in the Division.October 7, 2020
Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom published Monastic Landscape of Late Antique Egypt: An Archaeological Reconstruction (Cambridge), which is the 2019 Best Popular Book in Archaeology from Biblical Archaeology Society. Recent chapters include "The Archaeology of Monastic Households" in The Oxford Handbook of Christian Monasticism (2020); "The Archaeology of Early Monastic Communities" and "Archaeology of early Christianity in Egypt" for The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology (2019); and "The Archaeology of the Earliest Monasteries" co-authored with Hendrik Dey for The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West (2020).October 2, 2020
September 14, 2020
September 13, 2020
Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood conference September 13-14, 2020 via Zoom. The conference is entitled, "Do Religious Naturalists Really Believe in God?" Exploring some fundamental issues at the intersection of theology and philosophy. This conference is open to the public, but advance registration is required.
- To register for the conference, please click here.
- In lieu of registration fees, donations to the Kaplan Center are strongly suggested.
- For the conference flyer, please click here.
July 1, 2020
Released July 2020, The New Jewish Canon offers a conceptual roadmap to make sense of the rapid change that has occurred over the past 35 years. With over eighty excerpts from key primary source texts and insightful corresponding essays by leading scholars, on topics of history and memory, Jewish politics and the public square, religion and religiosity, and identities and communities, The New Jewish Canon promises to start conversations from the seminar room to the dinner table. The New Jewish Canon is both text and textbook of the Jewish intellectual and communal zeitgeist for the contemporary period and the recent past, canonizing our most important ideas and debates of the past two generations; and just as importantly, stimulating debate and scholarship about what is yet to come. (Academic Studies Press)
It features essays by numerous Brandeis faculty, and alumni, some of whom include:
David Ellenson
Rachel Fish
Sylvia Fishman
Alexander Kaye
Hannah Kober
Yehuda Kurtzer
Jon Levisohn
Shaul Magid
Jonathan Sarna
July 21, 2020
July 5, 2020
Abstract from Article:
"The term “a light unto the nations” is a hallmark of modern Jewish identity but the subtle divergences in the meaning of the expression among its diverse proponents shed light on the continuities and differences among modern Jewish ideologies. David Ben-Gurion, in particular, regarded the calling to be “a light unto the nations” as a central mission of the State of Israel. Before the 1950s, however, almost all Zionists, including Ben-Gurion himself, repudiated the term because they associated it with diasporist ideology. This article explores its shifting meanings in Zionist discourse, with a special focus on Ben-Gurion’s rhetoric. It explains Ben-Gurion’s changing attitudes term and shows how his innovative uses of the term allowed him to navigate between modernity and traditional Judaism, between Zionism and its opponents, and between the various streams within the Zionist movement. It reminds us that the lexical continuity of figurative terms can mask conceptual fluctuation and enhances a picture of Zionism that acknowledges both its revolutionary novelty and its place in the long continuum of Jewish life."
July 2, 2020
Jonathan Sarna publishes "Woodrow Wilson was a hero to Jews. What should we do with his racism?" in Forward.July 1, 2020
- Further Studies on Mesopotamian Witchcraft Beliefs and Literature. (Ancient Magic and Divination 17; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2020).
- Corpus of Mesopotamian Anti-witchcraft Rituals, volume 3 (with Daniel Schwemer, Mikko Luukko, and Greta Van Buylaere) (Ancient Magic and Divination 8/3; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2020).
- A second edition of Babylonian Witchcraft Literature: Case Studies (Brown Judaic Studies, vol. 132; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 2020 [2nd edition]) with a new preface.
The book that will appear in the fall is:
- Essays on Babylonian and Biblical Literature and Religion (Harvard Semitic Studies, vol. 65; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2020.)
July 1, 2020
Bernadette Brooten's Women Leaders in the Ancient Synagogue is now freely available in digital form witha new introduction. The volume is currently hosted on JSTOR, Project MUSE and the Brown Digital Repository.
Secondly, a revised German edition of Love Between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism has appeared in print with a new introduction. The book will soon be available as an open access publication through the University of Giessen's library.
June 30, 2020
The Lehrhaus publishes Shalom Carmy's thoughful and substantive review of Alexander Kaye's recent book, The Invention of Jewish Theocracy: The Struggle for Legal Authority in Modern Israel (Oxford University Press, 2020). Prof. Kaye is the Stoll Assistant Professor of Israel Studies and a core Schustman Center faculty member.