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Jewish scholars

Matt Damon plays Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of Homer's 'The Odyssey.' (Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures via JTA)
July 17, 2026, 10:55 am
As Christopher Nolan revives ‘The Odyssey,’ a scholar links Homer and the Bible
What do a wily Greek king and the heroes and heroines of Genesis have in common? Academic and author Jacob Howland highlights more than a few points as the film premieres in the US on Friday
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
A New York Times reviewer called Paul Mendes-Flohr's 2019 book 'Martin Buber: A Life of Faith and Dissent' a 'scrupulously researched, perceptive biography' of the German Jewish philosopher. (Wikipedia; Yale University Press via JTA)
October 30, 2024, 3:46 am
Paul Mendes-Flohr, Israeli-American authority on Martin Buber, dies at 83
A scholar of modern Jewish intellectual history, philosophy and religious thought, he edited and wrote 62 books and taught for 30 years at Hebrew University
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
'The Madwoman in the Rabbi's Attic,' by Gila Fine. (Courtesy)
June 11, 2024, 5:23 pm
A redemptive reading of Talmudic women reveals ‘radical truths’ hidden by the rabbis
Perfect for Shavuot learning, a new book by thinker Gila Fine reexamines the complex narratives of women in the Talmud, giving them new life with insightful second readings
By Maya Zanger-Nadis
Clockwise from left: Arthur Szyk, Maimonides, New Canaan,1950, Watercolor and gouache on paper. (Collection of Yeshiva University Museum, gift of Louis Werner); Moses Maimonides' Commentary on the Mishnah, Egypt, after 1168. (The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford); Guide of the Perplexed, Barcelona, 1347 or 1348, by Moses Maimonides. (The Royal Danish Library, Copenhagen/ all images from the Yeshiva University Museum exhibition 'The Golden Path: Maimonides Across Eight Centuries')
May 23, 2023, 4:00 am
Legacy of 12th-century rabbi, doctor and thinker Moses Maimonides on display in NY
‘The Golden Path: Maimonides Across Eight Centuries,’ a Yeshiva University exhibit, shows the far-reaching impact of one of the Middle Age’s most prolific Torah scholars
By Cathryn J. Prince
Jodi Eichler-Levine, a professor of religion studies at Lehigh University, encountered antisemitic harassment after one of her Twitter threads about Disney went viral. (Courtesy of Eichler-Levine/ via JTA)
June 14, 2022, 4:04 am
What can ‘Disney adults’ teach us about religion? A lot, according to this professor
Religious studies Prof. Jodi Eichler-Levine’s response to a Reddit thread standing up for superfans quickly went viral — but she says much of its nuance is being overlooked
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Donald Kagan in 2013 (YouTube screenshot)
August 11, 2021, 7:32 pm
Donald Kagan, leading neo-conservative historian, dead at 89
Jewish scholar who focused on ancient Greece said he was inspired by the ‘remarkable assumption that the human being is not trivial’
By Hillel Italie
Rabbi Art Green. (Hebrew College/ via JTA)
November 22, 2020, 6:10 am
Rabbi Art Green says the Hasidism that lasts finds sparks of holiness everywhere
At 79, the scholar focuses on his legacy, loving one’s neighbor, and his forthcoming translation of 18th-century ‘Light of the Eyes,’ to cap a busy decade of making meaning
By Ben Harris
Rabbi Vanessa Ochs is the author of the new book, 'The Passover Haggadah: A Biography.' (Courtesy)
April 8, 2020, 4:28 pm
This year’s ‘virtual’ seders have an ancient echo, says Haggadah historian
Through prosperity and darkness — and now again in modernity — the retelling of the Exodus story has evolved alongside the Jewish people. Prof. Vanessa Ochs traces the journey
By Rich Tenorio
Gertrude Himmelfarb (Screen capture: YouTube)
December 31, 2019, 9:16 pm
Gertrude Himmelfarb, influential conservative scholar, dies at 97
A manufacturer’s daughter from New York, she was a scholar on Victorian England, forceful voice in the ‘culture wars’ and widow of neoconservative ‘godfather’ Irving Kristol
By Hillel Italie
Maverick historian John Lukacs. (YouTube screenshot)
May 6, 2019, 9:59 pm
John Lukacs, iconoclastic historian and Holocaust survivor, dies at 95
A biographer of Winston Churchill, the Hungarian-born scholar lamented the erosion of ‘civilization and culture of the past 500 years, European and Western’
By Hillel Italie
Illustrative: A 12-volume set of Babylonian Talmud with commentaries, printed in Amsterdam by Immanuel Benveniste, 1644-47 (Kestenbaum & Company)
December 28, 2018, 6:23 am
New Talmud ‘biography’ seeks to bring the foundational text to life
Prof. Barry Scott Wimpfheimer has studied the Oral Law since he was 17; now he shares its story with an accessible, big picture view of its centrality to Judaism
By Rich Tenorio
Evelien Gans was one of the Netherlands’ foremost scholars on anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. (Courtesy of Daniel Staal/via JTA)
August 15, 2018, 6:46 am
Before her suicide, Dutch Holocaust scholar saw deep threats to her life’s work
The life partner of Evelien Gans, who took her own life last month, notes her recent obsession with combating what she considered obfuscation and inversion of the Shoah
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Chantal Ringuet at Masada during a 2012 Israel visit. (Courtesy)
July 28, 2018, 11:08 pm
Leonard Cohen turned this Montreal francophone into a champion of Jewish culture
Raised Catholic, scholar and writer Chantal Ringuet learned Yiddish in order to make her city’s rich heritage available to fellow French Canadians
By Robert Sarner
Karen Miller Jackson
April 27, 2018, 6:40 pm
Karen Miller Jackson
80 women teach Torah
It’s plain math: create more positions for female scholars of Jewish texts, and increase the potential reach of Judaism
Prof. Steven Pinker receiving an honorary doctorate from Simon Fraser University. (Simon Fraser University)
April 21, 2018, 10:02 am
Political correctness is not in this best-selling pop-scientist’s vast lexicon
Prof. Steven Pinker has irked more than a few with his pull-no-punches tone and demand for hard data — but beneath the tough exterior lies an unapologetic optimist
By JP O’ Malley
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