Talya Fishman

Transcription

1 Talya Fishman Department of Religious Studies University of Pennsylvania 225 Claudia Cohen Hall Philadelphia, PA (o) 215/ EDUCATION Ph.D., Post-Biblical Jewish History and Literature, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University. May, M.A., (Interdisciplinary: Jewish History, Rabbinics, Jewish Philosophy, Hebrew Literature), Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York. May, B.A., summa cum laude, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT. (Majored in the College of Letters, an interdisciplinary program in the history of Western thought studied through literary and philosophical texts.) University and Highest Honors for Senior Thesis, "Reflections on Spinoza's Theological Political Treatise: The Question of Authority in Scriptural Interpretation and Political Theory". May, EMPLOYMENT Jan. - Feb. 2010: Visiting Scholar, Seminar für Judaistik; University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany July, : Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania. Undergraduate courses: Introduction to Western Religions; Introduction to Judaism; Transmission of Rabbinic Culture; Jewish-Christian Relations Through the Ages; Jewish Civilization II; Introduction to Jewish Mysticism; The Religious 'Other' in the Lives and Cultures of Jews, Christians and Muslims; Maimonides and His Image. Graduate seminars: Spirit and Law; Jewish- Christian Relations in the Early Modern Period; Custom in Medieval Jewish Culture; Packaging Jewish Knowledge; The Making of Medieval Jewish Culture; The Senses in Medieval Jewish 1

2 Culture; Nature and the Supernatural in Medieval Jewish Culture, Rethinking Ashkenaz and Sefarad. Summer 2000: Visiting Associate Professor, Jewish Theological Seminary. Course: Spirit and Law. Jan. - April 2000: Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Stanford University. Courses: Spirit and Law; Introduction to Jewish Culture, Graduate Seminar in Rabbinic Literature. Aug. '99 - Dec. '99: Visiting Associate Professor, Department of History, University of California at Berkeley. History of the Jewish People II; Graduate seminar: The Other Within: Jews, Judaism and the Transformation of European Culture in the Early Modern Period. Aug. '89 - June '98 (resigned): Associate Professor (1996), Department of History, Rice University, Houston, TX. Courses: History of the Jewish People I: Ezra-1492; History of the Jewish People II: ; Introduction to Jewish Philosophy and Mysticism; Perceptions of Jews and Judaism from Tacitus to Toynbee; Power & Powerlessness in Jewish History. Sept. '96 - June '97: Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Stanford University. Courses: Introduction to Rabbinic Culture; Spiritualizing the Law: Philosophers, Mystics and Pietists in Jewish Culture; Representing the Other: Jews and Judaism in Western Thought; Hasidism and Modernity. Jan. '89 - June '89: Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of History, Columbia University. Course: Medieval Jewish History from the Geonic Period to the Spanish Expulsion. Graduate seminar: Dissent and Critique in Medieval Rabbanite Culture. Sept. '84 - June '88: Lecturer, and from 9/86, Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Boston University. Courses: Introduction to Western Religions; Judaica in the Humanities; Introduction to the Genres of Rabbinic Literature; Themes in Medieval Jewish Philosophy; Jews of Medieval Europe: Ideas and Institutions; Critiques of Judaism and Responses Through the Ages; Introduction to Jewish Mysticism. Sept. '80- May '84: Adult Education Instructor. Courses: Jewish Intellectual History from the Expulsion from Spain through the Emanicipation; Social and Spiritual Revolutions in Jewish History. Boston Hebrew College and the Havurah Adult Education of Greater Boston. Sept. '78- Jan. '79: Research Assistant, Jewish Ceremonial Art Collection, Jewish Museum, NY. June '76 - Jan. '78: Founder and coordinator of Areivim, an volunteer service and documentation project in Diaspora Jewish communities, under the auspices of the World Union of Jewish Students, London. 2

3 PUBLICATIONS Books Becoming the People of the Talmud: Oral Torah as Written Tradition in Medieval Jewish Cultures, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011). Shaking the Pillars of Exile: "Voice of a Fool"'s Early Modern Jewish Critique of Rabbinic Culture, (Stanford University Press, 1997) Peer-Reviewed Articles "Guarding Oral Transmission: Within and Between Cultures", Oral Tradition 25/1 (2010): The Rhineland Pietists Sacralization of Oral Torah, Jewish Quarterly Review, vol. 96 (2006), pp "Rhineland Pietist Approaches to Prayer and the Textualization of Rabbinic Culture in Medieval Northern Europe", Jewish Studies Quarterly, vol. 11 (2004), pp "The Penitential System of Hasidei Ashkenaz and the Problem of Cultural Boundaries", Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy, vol. 8, (1999), "A Kabbalistic Perspective on Gender-Specific Commandments: On the Interplay Between Symbol and Society", Association for Jewish Studies Review 17:2 (1992): "New Light on the Dating and Provenance of Kol Sakhal's Timeless Critique of Rabbinic Authority and Tradition", Tarbiz 59 (1990): l7l-l90 [Hebrew]. "A Medieval Parody of Misogyny: Judah Ibn Shabbetai's Minhat Yehudah Soneh HaNashim", Prooftexts, A Journal of Jewish Literary History 8 (1988): "On Women and Torah Study: Sefer HaKanah's Critique of Halakhah and Kabbalistic Response", Kabbalah, v. 2, #2, Summer

4 Contributions to Edited Volumes "On the Emergence and Disappearance of Rhineland Pietism", Festschrift in Honor of Professor Menahem Schmelzer, Evelyn Cohen, Emile Schrijver, editors. [forthcoming]. "Claims About Mishna in the Epistle of Sherira Gaon: Islamic Theology and Jewish History", in David Freidenreich and Miriam Goldstein, eds., Border Crossings: Interreligious Interaction and the Exchange of Ideas in the Islamic Middle Ages, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012), pp ; "Changing Jewish Discourse About Christianity: The Efforts of Rabbi Leone Modena", in David Malkiel, ed., The Lion Shall Roar: Leone Modena and His World, (Magnes Press: Jerusalem, 2002), pp "Forging Jewish Memory: Besamim Rosh and the Invention of Pre-Emancipation Jewish Culture", in E. Carlebach, J. Efron, D. Myers, eds., Jewish History and Jewish Memory: Essays in Honor of Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, (Brandeis University Press, 1998), pp Contributions to Reference Works "Saul Berlin", in R.J.Z. Werblowsky and G. Wigoder, eds., Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion, (NY, 1997). Web-Based Publications Annotated translations of Hebrew texts that reflect anxiety about Jewish identity in Early Modern Europe: Two rabbinic responsa by Rabbi Zemah ben Shlomo Duran; anti-christian polemic by Rabbi Zemah ben Shlomo Duran; selection from Kol Sakhal s critique of rabbinic authority; selection from an epistle of Orobio de Castro. Website of the Mellon Workshop on Early Modern Jewries, posted Fall, A Medieval Screed Against Textual Emendation, CAJS Web Exhibit on Challenging Boundaries: History and Anthropology in Jewish Studies, posted Spring,

5 Works in Progress Sensing Torah: A Medieval Jewish Guide to the Cultivation of Religious Experience Formation and Re-Formation of Jewish Subcultural Identities in Medieval Europe. Co-editor, with Javier Castaño and Ephraim Kanarfogel "Jewish Reassessments of Christian Theology in Early Modern Europe", [ to be published inthe Reception of the Religious Other in Intercultural Exchange, 16th-18th Centuries, ed. Giovanni Tarantino, (Leiden: Brill, 2012)] "The Genealogical Mapping of Medieval Jewish Subcultures: Reconsidering the Two-Center Theory" [to be published in a thematic volume]. "The Manufactured Uncertainty of the Masorah Figurata: Word-Image Hybrids in Hebrew Bible Codices of Medieval Spain" [to be presented at Charles University, Prague, in Spring, 2012.] Review of Elisheva Carlebach, Palaces of Time (Harvard University Press, 2011), Journal of Modern History. FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS Sept. 04- Dec. 04: Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. (Second half taken in Fall, 2006) Sept June 04: Center for Advanced Jewish Studies Fellowship, Anthropology and Jewish Studies Seminar, University of Pennsylvania. Sept. '00 - Jul. '01: American Council of Learned Societies, Fellowship for Independent Scholars. Sept. '98 - Aug. '99: Stanford University Program in Jewish Studies, Visiting Scholar. Sept. '95 - Aug. '96: National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship. Sept. '95 - Aug. '96: Stanford Humanities Center Fellowship May '95: Yavneh Award for Jewish Education, Houston Jewish Federation. Sept. '9l - Jul. '92: Yad HaNadiv - Barecha Foundation Fellowship, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Jun. Aug. 90: Rice University Faculty Research Grant. 5

6 Sept. '86 - Aug. '87: Center for Jewish Studies Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Harvard University. Sept. '83 - Jun. '84: Charlotte Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, Woodrow Wilson Foundation. Sept. '82 - Jun. '84: National Foundation for Jewish Culture, Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. Sept. '82 - Jun. '84: Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture Fellowship for Doctoral Candidates. Sept. '80- Jun. '82: Sidney Solomon Fellowship, Harvard University. PRESENTATIONS Nov. 2011: Experiencing Oral Torah as a Written Corpus, Jewish Studies Program, Johns Hopkins University. Oct. 2011: Presenter, Colloquium on Oral Transmission of Sacred Literature in Judaism and Islam, Georgetown University. Sept. 2011: Presenter and respondant to discussion of my book, Becoming the People of the Talmud: Oral Torah as Written Tradition in Medieval Jewish Cultures, Scholars Working Group on the Jewish Book, Center for Jewish History, NY. May 2011: Presenter and initiator of workshop on "The Packaging of Legal Traditions in Medieval Islamic, Jewish and Christian Societies", Yale University. May 2011: "Changing Jewish Perspectives on Christianity", Context Forum, NYC. May 2011: Roundtable Discussant, concluding panel of Conference, "Taking Turns" New Perspectives on Jews and Conversion", Center for Advanced Jewish Studies, University of Pennsylvania. Mar. 2011: "Did Jews Participate in the Early Modern Conversation About 'Religion'?". Conference on The Reception of the Religious Other in Intercultural Exchange, 16th-18th centuries, Ruhr-Universität, Bochum, Germany Dec. 2010: "Minhag Mevatel Halakha? Rethinking the Prominence of Custom in Medieval Ashkenaz", Association for Jewish Studies Conference, Boston. Nov. 2010: "When Oral Torah Was Inscribed:Rethinking the Prominence of Minhag in Medieval "מתורהעלפהלתורהבכתב: מבטחדשעלמקומושלהמנהגבאשכנזבימיהביניים Ashkenaz". Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 6

7 Mar. 2010: "Sensing Torah: A Medieval Jew on Beauty as a Springboard to Faith", in Panel on "Beauty in the Two Cities: Religious Faith & Embodied Perception", Medieval Academy of America, New Haven, CT. Feb. 2010: "On the Prominence of Jewish Custom in the Writings of German Hebraists", Conference on "Christian Hebraism and Yiddishism Through 1900", Seminar für Judaistik/Jüdische Studien, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. Feb. 2010: "When Oral Torah Was Inscribed: Transformations in Rabbinic Culture", Institut für Judaistik, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany. Jan. 2010: "Islamic Keys to Riddles of Geonic Culture", Institut für Jüdische Studien, Heinrich- Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf, Germany Jan. 2010: The Prominence of Custom in Medieval Ashkenaz: The German Context, Jüdische Hochshule, Heidelberg, Germany Jan. 2010: "On the Emergence and Disappearance of Rhineland Pietism", Seminar für Judaistik, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany Jan. 2010: "Changing Jewish Discourse About Christianity: The Efforts of Rabbi Leone Modena", Martin-Buber-Institut für Judaistik, Universität zu Köln, Germany. Jan. 2010: "Islamic Keys to Riddles of Geonic Culture", Program in Near Eastern Studies, Martin- Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. Oct. '09: "When Oral Torah Was Inscribed: Transformations in Rabbinic Culture", Oriental Club, University of Pennsylvania. Jan. '09: "From Oral Torah to Glossed Text: The Changing Uses of Talmud in Medieval Ashkenazi Culture", Jewish Studies Department, University of Toronto. Jan. '09: "Medieval Responses to the Textualization of Jewish Culture", Jewish Studies Seminar for Faculty and Graduate Students, University of Toronto, Oct. '08: "How Disparate Modes of Transmitting Ancient Rabbinic Tradition Shaped Medieval Jewish Subcultures", Jewish Studies Faculty Seminar, University of Pennsylvania. July, '08: "Medieval Jewish Culture in Art and the Arts of Medieval Jewish Culture", Phildaelphia Museum of Art, VAST Teacher Education Workshop. Apr. '08: "Disparate Motivations for Guarding Oral Transmission: Within and Between Cultures", Seventh International Conference on Orality and Textuality, Rice University, Houston TX. 7

8 Nov. 07: The Computational Prayer Practice of the Rhineland Pietists, American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, San Diego, CA. Feb., 07: Preserving the Orality of Oral Torah after the Inscription of Talmud, History of the Book Seminar, University of Pennsylvania. Feb. 07: Perceptions of the Religious Other: Jews and Christians in Medieval Northern Europe, Program in Jewish Studies, Drexel University. Nov. 06: How Can the Pursuit of Reason Bring One Closer to God? Approaches to Maimonides, Temple Beth Hillel Beth El, Wynnewood, PA. Feb. '06: "How Oral is 'Oral Torah'?", Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El Torathon, Wynnewood, PA. Feb. 05: The Medieval Transformation of Talmud into a Legal Code, Religious Studies Department Colloquium, University of Pennsylvania. Nov., 04: Approaches to Jewish Mysticism, Haverford College. Nov., 04: Teaching Religious Traditions to Students to Disparate Faiths, Colloquium of the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development, New York. Oct., 04: The Textualization of Rabbinic Culture, UNC-Duke University Colloquium in Jewish Studies. Aug., 04: Anxieties About Jewish Identity in Early Modern Europe, Mellon Workshop on Early Modern Jewries, Wesleyan University. Apr. 04: Ashkenazic Sacralization of the Newly-Inscribed Oral Torah, Center for Advanced Jewish Studies Conference, University of Pennsylvania. Feb. 04: "Rhineland Pietism's Masorah of Prayer and the Textualization of Rabbinic Culture in Medieval Northern Europe", Conference on Sefer Hasidim and Jewish-Christian Relations, Princeton University. Nov. 03: The Yeshiva Bokher as a Hot Catch: How Jewish Culture Came to Regard Mastery of an Antiquated Corpus as its Social and Religious Ideal, Board of Trustees Retreat, Center for Advanced Jewish Studies, University of Pennsylvania. Oct. 03: Custom s Emergence as a Competitor to Law: A Revolution of Medieval Ashkenaz, Center for Advanced Jewish Studies, University of Pennsylvania. Sept. 03: Women s Midrash for the Ten Days of Penitence, Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El. Feb. 03: Functions of Decoration in Medieval Illuminated Hebrew Manuscripts, Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El Night of Learning. 8

9 Dec. 02: Valorizing the Textual Artifact: Profet Duran s Grammar of Religious Experience, History of the Book Seminar, University of Pennsylvania. Dec. 01: Changing Jewish Perceptions of Christianity in the Early Modern Period, Religious Studies Colloquium, University of Pennsylvania. Oct. 01: Tosafists, Pietists and the Challenge to Jewish Cultural Continuity in Twelfth Century Northern Europe, Conference on Jewish Religious Leadership, Jewish Theological Seminary. Dec., 00: "Was There a Clandestine Jewish Movement to Convert Gentiles in Early Modern Europe?", Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, Boston. Feb., '00: "Subverting Rabbis: Tolerated Legal Dissent in Jewish Culture", Stanford University. Apr. '99: "After Shaking the Pillars: The Trees, the Forest and the Escher Effect", Midwest Jewish Studies Colloquium, Ohio State University, Columbus. Mar. '99: Response to Steven Fraade, "Comparitive Midrash Revisited", Colloquium on Text and Commentary, Rice University, Houston. Dec. '98: "Fashioning a Universalist Impulse in Rabbinic Culture: The Case of Kol Sakhal", International Conference on Rabbi Leone Modena and His World, Ben Zvi Institute, Jerusalem. Oct. '98: "Forgotten Legal Blueprints for Jewish Cultural Modernization", Washington University, St. Louis. Apr. '98: "Pathways to Modernization: Christian and Jewish Models", USF Honors Program in the Humanities, San Francisco. Mar. '98: "Hypotheticals, Counterfactuals and Impossibilities in Rabbinic Culture", Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA. Feb. '98: "On the Margins: Tosafistic Writing in Its Cross-Cultural Context", Conference in Memory of Professor Isadore Twersky, Harvard University. Dec. '97: "Hypotheticals, Counterfactuals and Non-Applied Law in Rabbinic Culture", Association for Jewish Studies Annual Meeting, Boston. Nov. '97: "The Modernization of Jewish Culture: A Historical Window on an Aborted Process", Jewish Book Fair, Houston. Jul. '97: "Reflections on the Penitential System of Hasidei Ashkenaz", World Congress of Jewish Studies, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. 9

10 Jan. '97: "What Makes Jewish Cultural Modernization Possible? On Canon, Taxonomy and the Pursuit of Hypotheticals", Faculty Seminar, Dept. of Religious Studies, Stanford University. May '96: "Rabbinic Civilization and Its Discontents", UC Davis Humanities Center. Apr. '96: "Tolerated Dissent in Rabbinic Culture", Stanford Humanities Center, Stanford University. Mar. '96: "The Ironic History of Oral Torah", Central Synagogue, New York. Feb. '96: "The Penchant for Non-Applied Law in Early Modern Rabbinic Culture", Judaic Studies Colloquium, University of Washington. Oct. '95: "Tolerated Dissent in Rabbinic Culture", Frankel Lecture in Rabbinic Literature, University of Michigan. March '95: "Rabbinic Civilization and Its Discontents", Harry Friedman Memorial Lecture, United Orthodox Synagogue, Houston. Feb. '95: "The 'Taming' of Rhineland Pietism: The Problem of Cultural Boundaries", Symposium on Philosophical Religion and Popular Religion, University of Memphis. Dec. '94: "Tolerated Dissent in Pre-Modern Jewish Culture", Association for Jewish Studies Annual Meeting, Boston. Nov. '94: "Medieval Rabbinic Civilization and Its Discontents", Workshop on Medieval Heresies, University of British Columbia. Mar. '94: "Rabbinic Justifications for Women's Participation in the Rituals of Men", Kallah of Texas Rabbis, Houston. Feb. '94: "Jerusalem in Jewish Culture: From Solomon to the Mid-19th Century", Rice University School for Continuing Studies. Nov. '93: "The Contours of Jewish Life in Christian Europe", guest lecture in Medieval History I, Rice University. Nov. '93: "Medieval Philosophy: The Encounter of Reason & Revelation", guest lecture in History of the Islamic Near East, and Introduction to Humanities, Rice University. Dec. '92: "Trojan Horse in the Camp of Halakha? She-elot U'Teshuvot Besamim Rosh", Association for Jewish Studies Annual Meeting. Nov. '92: "The Lord and the Ladies: Women and Jewish Ritual in Kabbalah and Mentalit ", Stanford University Colloquium in Jewish Studies. 10

11 Oct. '92: "Jews of Eastern Europe: 1648", guest lecture in History of Eastern Europe, Rice University. Apr. 92: "Reflections on the Critique of Halakha Prior to the Reform Movement", Neve Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, Israel. Feb. '92: "Parody, Plagiarism and Pilpul in Halakhic Literature: The Strange Case of Besamim Rosh", [in Hebrew], Department of Jewish History, Bar Ilan University Faculty Seminar, Ramat Gan, Israel. Apr. '9l: "The Influence of External Cultures on the Evolution of Rabbinic Culture", Scholar in Residence, Sixtieth Annual Kallah of Texas Rabbis. Apr. '9l: "Reason and Revelation in the Thought of Maimonides", Congegration Brith Shalom, Houston, TX. Mar. '9l: "Jewish Sects of the Second Temple Period", Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations lecture, Rice University. Feb. '9l: "Perspectives on Women's Pietism in Medieval Jewish and Christian Cultures", Houston Colloquium in Judaic Studies. Feb. '9l: "Formation of Rabbinic Judaism", Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations lecture, Rice University. Jan. '9l: "The Emergence of Modern Jewish Culture", Temple Beth Israel, Houston, TX. Jun. '90: Respondent to Panel on "Women's Spirituality in Medieval Jewish and Islamic Cultures", Berkshire Conference on Women's History, Douglas College, New Jersey. Dec. '89: "Jewish Mysticism", National Conference of Christians and Jews, Houston, TX. Dec. '89: "Torah Over Hellenism? Jewish Acculturation and the Myth of Hanukkah", Hebrew Academy, Houston, TX. Nov. '89: "Non-Secular Humanism: Judaic Studies in the American University Curriculum", Rice University Hillel, Houston, TX. Apr. '89: "Reflections on Dissent in Rabbanite Culture: Kol Sakhal's 'In-House' Critique of Halakha", Seminar on Early Modern History, Jewish Theological Seminary, New York. Apr. '89: "New Light on the Dating and Provenance of Kol Sakhal", Conference on the Jews of Renaissance Italy, Harvard University. Oct. '88: "A Kabbalistic Perspective on Women's Ritual Obligations", Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. 11

12 Mar. '88: "Christian Kabbalah: Reflections on Cross-Cultural Influence in 16th-17th Century Europe", Rice University, Houston. Dec. '87: "Gender-Specific Mizvot and Their Cosmic Ramifications", American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Boston. Aug. '87: "The Impact of External Critiques on the Development of Jewish Culture", National Havurah Summer Institute, Princeton University. Jan. '87: "Kol Sakhal: An Internal Critique of Rabbinic Tradition", Institute for Advanced Studies, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Dec. '86: "Pre-Modern Critiques of Women's Exemption from Aspects of Jewish Ritual", First International Conference on Women and Halakha, Jerusalem. Mar. '86: Maimonides Study Day, Congregation Shirat HaYam, Nantucket, MA. Feb. '86: "Does Jewish Tradition Acknowledge Personal Enlightenment?" National Conference of Synagogue Women, Boston. Dec. '85: "Kol Sakhal on the Role of Rabbinic Legislation in Shaping Cosmic History", Association for Jewish Studies 17th Annual Conference, Boston, MA. Oct. '85: "The Law and the Uncommanded: Pietism among Orthodox Women", Evergreen Institute, Boston University. Oct. '85: "Mainstream Responses to Critiques of Jewish Culture", Hillel Seminar, Harvard University. Aug. '82: "Justifications of Innovation in Medieval Rabbinic Literature", National Havurah Summer Institute, Rutgers University. [repeated at Hillel Seminar, Harvard University, 1983.] Dec. '82: "The Oral Law: Rabbinic Perceptions of Its Authority, Composition, Rationale", Hillel Eastern Winter Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dec. '81: "The Cultural Interaction of Christians and Jews in Renaissance Italy", Harvard University. 12

13 SERVICE Doctoral Fellowship Review Panel, Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture ( ) Doctoral Fellowship Review Panel, Foundation for Jewish Culture ( ) Advisory Committee, Princeton University Program in Jewish Studies. (2005- ) Faculty Advisory Committee, Center for Advanced Jewish Studies, University of Pennsylvania Acquisitions Committee, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia. Book Review Editorial Board, Association for Jewish Studies Review. Reviewer of manuscripts for, among others, Association for Jewish Studies Review; Jewish History; Cambridge History of Judaism, Jewish Studies Quarterly, Jewish Quarterly Review, Jewish Social Studies Reviewer of proposals submitted to the German Research Foundation, Israel Science Foundation Member, Curriculum Review Committee, History and Tradition Sector, University of Pennsylvania Acting Chair, Department of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania, ( ) Graduate Chair, Department of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania ( ) Faculty Mentor, Sinai Scholars Board of Advisors, The Friendship Circle, Philadelphia, PA. Board Member, Gimprich Family Foundation 13