Professor Alexander Kaye receives Young Scholar Award

The Association for Israel Studies named Brandeis professor Alexander Kaye a recipient of its 2021 Young Scholar Award.

Kaye is the Karl, Harry, and Helen Stoll Assistant Professor of Israel Studies, teaching classes in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Brandeis’ Schusterman Center for Israel Studies. He joined the Brandeis faculty in 2018.

His most recent book, “The Invention of Jewish Theocracy: The Struggle for Legal Authority in Modern Israel” (Oxford University Press), investigates Jewish nationalists’ desire for Israel to become a “halakhic state,” which would mean using Jewish Orthodox law to govern the State of Israel.

The Young Scholar Award carries a $5,000 prize and recognizes scholars who make significant contributions to Israel studies, and whose record of research and publication demonstrates the potential to shape the field in the future.

Founded in 1985 and chartered in the U.S., the Association for Israel Studies is an international scholarly society devoted to the study of modern Israel. The Schusterman Center for Israel Studies is a scholarly affiliate of the organization.