Institut für den Nahen und Mittleren Osten
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Curriculum vitae

Education

  • 1980-1992 – Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
    Ph.D. in Post-Biblical Jewish History and Hebrew Literature.
    -- General Examinations passed with distinction, November, 1983.
    -- Dissertation topic: The Religious and Legal Thought of Samuel Ben Hofni Gaon: Texts and Studies in Cultural History.
    -- Dissertation was directed by Prof. Yitzhak Twersky, Prof. Bernard Septimus, and Prof. Wolfhart Heinrichs. It was accepted with distinction, January, 1992
  • Fall, 1985 – Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem.
    Visiting Research Fellow.
  • 1977-1979 – Yeshivat ha-Mivtar, Jerusalem.
    Rabbinic ordination received through examination by Rav N. Ezaran, member of Jerusalem Central Rabbinate, June, 1979.
  • 1976-1977 – Shapell College of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem.
  • 1972-1976 – Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
    B.A. degree cum laude with departmental honors in Religious Studies.

Employment and Teaching

  • 1995 – 2015 – Ben-Zvi Institute, Jerusalem.
    Director of the Center for the Study of Judeo-Arabic Culture and Literature (of which I was also the co-founder).

    Responsibilities included (not an exclusive list): hiring and management of research personnel, training and guidance of research staff, informal teaching, assignment of specific research tasks for each staff member, defining long-range research goals, day-to-day resolution of research problems, maintaining a system of quality control of research work, organizing results of research and publication of catalogs and books, maintaining contact with and timely reporting to funding agencies, fundraising, research assistance to scholars interested in Judeo-Arabic literature, and not least, contributing to the Center’s research activity.

    The primary goal of the Center for the Study of Judeo-Arabic Culture and Literature is to help provide the basic tools for research in the field of Judeo-Arabic culture and to make a significant contribution to the reconstruction of its literature. This goal also includes encouraging young scholars to enter the field and providing them with hands-on training working with manuscripts. The Center has conducted a number of projects:

    • Cataloging the Judeo-Arabic manuscripts of the Firkovitch Collection held by the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg.

    • Systematic cataloging of Judeo-Arabic manuscripts from the Cairo Genizah.

    • Reconstruction, edition and translation of Judeo-Arabic books of Jewish law (halakhah), biblical exegesis, theology/philosophy, and polemics.

    The Center is now closed temporarily due to lack of funding.

  • 1983, Fall – Harvard University.
    Assisted in teaching the Core Curriculum course: The Old Testament and Its Exegesis.
  • 1984, Spring – Harvard University.
    I coordinated and taught the Junior Tutorial in Jewish studies (an experimental "over-view" course given for the first time).
  • 1991 – Touro College, Graduate School of Jewish Studies, Israel Center.
    M.A. level course: Jewish History in the Middle Ages (taught in separate Hebrew and English sections).
  • 1992-1993 – Touro College, Graduate School of Jewish Studies, Israel Center.
    Adjunct assistant professor and academic advisor to students writing M.A. theses.
  • 1992-1995 – Ben-Zvi Institute, Jerusalem.
    Senior Researcher and Editor.
  • 1993-1994 – Touro College, Graduate School of Jewish Studies, Israel Center.
    Academic advisor; Spring 1994 and Fall 1994; taught the course: The Beginnings and Development of Judeo-Arabic Culture.
  • 1994-1995 – Ben Gurion University of the Negev
    Half-time external lecturer. Courses: The Beginnings and Development of Judeo-Arabic Culture; The Karaites: Their History and Literature.
  • 1996-1997 – Mikhlelet Efrata
    B.A. level course: Jewish History in the Middle Ages.
  • 1997-1998 – Hebrew University
    External lecturer. Course: The Later Gaonic Literature in the Context of the Development of Judeo-Arabic Culture.
  • 2006, Spring – University of St. Petersburg, Russia. I taught a concentrated course on philosophical and theological issues in Judeo-Arabic culture.
  • 2013, Spring – Hebrew University
    I taught the Judeo-Arabic text seminar for M.A. and Ph.D. students.
  • 2013, Fall – University of Maryland
    I taught a Judeo-Arabic text seminar for B.A. students by way of Internet connection.
  • 2013-2019 – I participated in the project “Editing Theology at a Crossroad: A Preliminary Edition of Judah Hadassi's Eshkol ha-kofer, First Commandment, and Studies of the Book's Judaeo-Arabic and Byzantine Contexts” led by Prof. Daniel Lasker of Ben-Gurion University and Jannis Niehoff-Panagiotidis of the Freie Universität in Berlin.
  • 2013-2017 – I was a researcher in the DFG DIP project “Biblia Arabica: The Bible in Arabic among Jews, Christians and Muslims” led by Camilla Adang and Meira Polliack of Tel Aviv University.
  • 2016-2019 – Research associate at Hebrew University in the project “Judeo-Arabic Biblical Exegesis in the Tenth Century.”
  • 2019-Present – Research associate in the ARCHES Project “Judeo-Arabic Bible Exegesis and Translations in the Firkovitch Manuscript Collections,” a cooperative venture between Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The project is headed by Ronny Vollandt and Miriam Goldstein and is funded by the Minerva Foundation.
  • 2019-Present – Research associate in the project “Independence and Diversity: Unknown Karaite Bible Commentaries from the Early Classical Age,” a cooperative venture between Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The project is headed by Ronny Vollandt and Miriam Goldstein and is funded by the DFG.