All posts by Eyal Levinson

About Eyal Levinson

I am a postdoctoral research fellow at the Hebrew University in the ERC project, Beyond the Elite: Jewish Daily Life in Medieval Europe, directed by Prof. Elisheva Baumgarten. I completed my PhD in the Gender Studies Program at Bar Ilan University under the direction of Prof. Baumgarten. I research youth, men fatherhood and masculinities in medieval Ashkenaz, and I interweave Jewish-Ashkenazic medieval historiography with gender and masculinity studies. I hold a BA, Summa Cum Laude, in Jewish Studies and Religion from Brooklyn College, and an MA with honors in Gender Studies from Bar Ilan University. My MA thesis is titled: The Conceptualization of the Yetzer and the Male Body in the Masculine Sexual Discourse in Sefer Hasidim. I am also a graduate of The Israel Democracy Institute’s program, "Human Rights and Judaism" (2012-2015) and in 2006 I received a rabbinical ordination from “Aleph: Alliance of Jewish Renewal”. My book, Youth in Medieval Ashkenaz (tentative name), is scheduled to be publish in Feb. 2022 by The Zalman Shazar Center and Leo Baeck Institute of Jerusalem.

Job-Assistant Professor of Medieval/Early Modern Jewish History at Emory University: Arts and Sciences: Institute for Jewish Studies

The Department of History and the Tam Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University, Atlanta, GA, invite applications for a jointly-appointed, tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Medieval/Early Modern Jewish History to begin Fall 2022.  Geographical and chronological focus open, but applicants whose teaching and/or research connect European Jewry to other global regions are particularly encouraged to apply.

Applicants must have Ph.D. in hand by August 1, 2022 and should have excellent relevant language skills.  Applicants should be able to teach pre-modern survey courses in both History and Jewish Studies as well as more specialized courses in their area of expertise.  The successful candidate will demonstrate an excellent record in scholarship and an ability to teach and mentor undergraduate and graduate students.  The candidate will be expected to participate actively in the life of both the History Department and Tam Institute for Jewish Studies.

Inquiries can be directed to the chair of the search committee: Prof. Ellie Schainker, ellie.schainker@emory.edu.

YouTube Lecture – The Cloisters and the Jews in Medieval Spain: A Conversation on Art, Literature, and History

Julia Perratore the curator of the new exhibit at the Cloisters Spain, 1000-1200: Art at the Frontiers of Faith leads a conversation about the history and cultures of Jews in medieval Iberia, contextualizing the exhibit. Katrin Kogman-Appel discusses medieval art and architecture from this period, Jonathan Ray the social and cultural contexts of different strata of Jewish society, and Peter Cole shares his insights into literary culture, reading also several poems from Iberia he translated.

Online Lecture: “The Rise of the Rabbis” by Simcha Gross Thursday, October 21, 2021, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT

Online
Zoom Link to be provided (password required)

Contact: sas-katzcenter@sas.upenn.edu

The rabbis featured in the Babylonian Talmud are typically imagined as constituting a centralized movement centered around a few large institutions (yeshivot), and serving as the official expositors of proper Jewish behavior among the Jews of the time.

In recent years, scholars have begun to challenge this portrait, arguing instead that the rabbis’ activities were decentralized, deinstitutionalized, heterogenous, and local in nature. Formal academies and the centralization of the movement happened later, when post-talmudic attitudes were retrojected onto the talmudic past.

This talk explores the social and cultural worlds of the rabbis of the Talmud and how they emerged as the dominant stream of Jewish practice and tradition.

Assistant Professor Position with Tenure Track in Judaic Studies at the Department of Religion at St. Olaf College

Particular area of expertise is open, but the College is particularly interested in candidates with strengths in any of the following areas:

1) the Hebrew Bible and its reception history;
2) the intersection between religion and gender studies;
3) comparative or dialogical work dealing with Jewish-Christian relations. Ph.D. or near completion at time of appointment is preferred, and teaching experience is highly desirable.

Begin in August 2022

The Cloisters and the Jews in Medieval Spain: A Conversation on Art, Literature, and History

This special program is organized in conjunction with the exhibition at The Met Cloisters, Spain, 1000-1200: Art at the Frontiers of Faith. The roundtable will feature three scholars who have pioneered work on Jewish life in medieval Spain. The discussion will respond to the themes of the Frontiers of Faith exhibition, focusing particularly on Jewish presence within and across the geopolitical regions at the meeting points of Christian- and Muslim-ruled Spain, as well as the other kinds of “frontier zones,” or sites of intensive interaction between faiths, from urban markets to princely courts.

The Claremont Prize for the Study of Religion just opened for applications.

The prize is dedicated to the publication of first books by early career scholars working in any discipline of the humanities or social sciences. Submissions can be on any aspect of the study of religion, including the study of secularism. Prize-winners will be invited to IRCPL to participate in a workshop and the books will appear in IRCPL’s series, “Religion, Culture, and Public Life,” published by Columbia University Press.

Deadline for submissions: September 17, 2021

Call for Applications for the Next Issue of CHIDUSHIM: קול קורא להגשת מאמרים – חידושים

כתב העת מבקש לעורר את הדיון בדבר ההיסטוריה של יהדות גרמניה והמרחב הדובר גרמנית לאורך ההיסטוריה. בהקשר זה יש לציין כי כתב העת מתייחס להיסטוריה במובנה הרחב והמאמרים יכולים לעסוק בהיבטים שונים של הפרספקטיבה ההיסטורית: תרבות, פילוסופיה, חברה, כלכלה, אנתרופולוגיה, ספורט ואמנות.

The journal aims to stimulate discussion of the history of the Jews living in Germany and the German-speaking sphere.

Deadline: 1 October 2021