Research

The Rabbi: A Cultural History
Princeton University Press. 

Many people think of rabbis as the Jewish equivalent of Christian clergy. They stand from pulpits on the bima, many garb themselves in stoles, and they serve as the spiritual authorities of congregations of people who may meet in steepled brick buildings. This perception of rabbis, however, is relatively new. Prior to the 18th century, rabbis rarely served as heads of congregations; instead, they sat in study houses, crowded around a rebbe’s table, or traveled through pen or by foot to offer legal or ritual advice. Whereas Christian bishops took their cues from the Israelite priests of old, rabbis did not initially seek or easily assume the position of authorized spiritual leader of Jewish communities. The rabbis’ main job was to study and teach others who came to learn, more akin to a professor than a priest.

This book follows the development of rabbis as a profession from their early days meeting in the homes of wealthy benefactors in Roman Palestine to present-day America where they preach from pulpits. Each chapter surveys the role of rabbis in different historical periods and/or geographic contexts, while focusing on a compelling case study from that era. Whether examining imperial oppressors or the challenges wrought by demons or the world wide web, the throughline of the book examines how rabbis cultivated their status as the primary Jewish expert when for much of Jewish history their influence was far less than one would imagine. 

Oxford Handbook of Rabbinic Literature
Ed. with Simcha Gross. Oxford University Press.

Rabbinic literature intersects with and provides essential evidence for many fields of study, including the social, cultural, intellectual, hermeneutical, legal history of Jews and Judaism; the study of the New Testament and early Christianity; Roman and Sasanian history, especially of provincial groups and their methods of negotiation with imperial powers and local contexts; the Qur’an and early Islamic law, the history of medicine, of magic, and much more. Despite this, the literature remains largely inaccessible to all but specialists highly trained in its unique rhetorical patterns, history of composition, and thematic substance.

As editors, our goal is for this Oxford Handbook to fill this desideratum by providing an entry point to the material for students and scholars of the ancient world, broadly defined. It seeks to do so through innovatively combining carefully selected chapters aimed at providing clear and accessible overviews to major texts and themes related to the corpus, while advancing a robust methodology for all who seek to work with this material. Scholars and students from adjacent and cognate disciplines will come away with essential background information, concepts, terminology, and a familiarity with the scholarly methods used to better understand each.

This volume provides an essential introduction to the rabbinic corpus that synthesizes long-standing debates within the field and addresses persistent questions about the relationship of rabbinic literature to the texts and traditions of the broader ancient Jewish and neighboring communities. Each essay also provides a clear methodological outline of how to work with rabbinic materials, including their prospects and limitations as sources for historical reconstruction, how to analyze textual parallels found throughout the corpus, and literary analysis that illuminates the artistry and rhetorical patterns of its composers. Specialists in rabbinics and scholars in adjacent fields will benefit from this close attention to the how of how to work with this material in addition to the what of what this literature represents.