Dialogues in Judaic Studies
This podcast features educational, informative and intellectually compelling conversations with authors of newly-published books and recently-released monographs on Jewish history, Jewish religion, Jewish philosophy and Jewish literature. The podcast intends to reach academic specialists, members of the reading public and beginners with entry-level curiosity.
Episodes
62 episodes
Yermiyahu Ahron Taub, trans., *Dineh: An Autobiographical Novel by Ida Maze*. Amherst, MA: Yiddish Book Center, 2022.
For the very first time, the novel *Dineh* is now available in English translation. This autobiographical work in Yiddish by Ida Maze (1893–1962), published posthumously, has been translated by Yermiyahu Ahron Taub.*Dineh* is a poignant...
Julia O’Brien, *Prophets Beyond Activism: Rethinking the Prophetic Roots of Social Justice*. Westminster John Knox, 2024.
This monograph thoughtfully questions the prevalent progressive belief that the prophets of ancient Israel were mainly focused on social justice. Instead, it boldly presents more enriching approaches to engaging with the prophetic texts in rela...
Phillip Michael Lasater and Benedikt Hensel, *Fear, Fear of God, God Fearers: Philological and Historical Perspectives on the World of Ancient Judaism and Christianity*. Tubingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2026.
This compilation examines the significance of fear and the reverence of God as essential components within the religious and cultural realms of ancient Judaism and early Christianity. Through the application of philological, historical, and ant...
Assaf Likhovski, *Legal Theory in the Colonies: Hindu and Jewish Scholars under British Rule*. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2026.
In colonial India and Mandatory Palestine, early twentieth-century legal scholars made notable contributions to the understanding of law's essence, particularly through their analysis of Hindu and Jewish legal systems, both of which are deeply ...
Yael Shemesh, *Elisha: The Holy Man of God*. Lenn Schramm, trans. Leiden: Brill, 2025.
In contrast to the narratives surrounding Elijah, the tales of Elisha, particularly the brief legends, have not garnered much scholarly focus or thorough examination. However, this trend is beginning to shift, as recent studies frequently inter...
Sandra Jacobs, *The Body as Property: Physical Disfigurement in Biblical Law*. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015.
This monograph posits that physical disfigurement played a role in biblical law to validate legal property acquisition, especially when the status of dependents was officially recognized.It is grounded in the fact that the cuneiform scr...
Eshbal Ratzon, Asaf Gayer and Jonathan Ben-Dov [with the assistance of Einat Tamir and Anna Shirav], *Material and Digital Reconstruction of Fragmentary Dead Sea Scrolls: The Case of 4Q418a*. Leiden: Brill, 2022.
Researchers dedicated to ancient scrolls are keen to find effective ways to extract the most valuable information from the extensive collection of fragments. Various techniques have been applied to the Dead Sea Scrolls and other historical text...
Jonathan Darby, *Shaping Text through Song: The Influence of Singing upon Processes of Textual Interpretation and Variation in the Dead Sea Scrolls*. Leiden: Brill, 2026.
This book examines the significant role of singing as a performative medium in the processes of textual interpretation and variation during the late Second Temple Period, as evidenced by the Dead Sea Scrolls. It posits that singing was a preval...
Pancratius Beentjes, *“Wisdom Sings Her Own Praise” (Sir. 24:1): Collected Essays on the Book of Ben Sira [III]*. Louvain, Belgium: Peeters Publishing House, 2025
For students and scholars of Ben Sira, this is truly a Golden Age. In the past twenty-five years, research on the Book of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) has developed into a thoroughly examined discipline. In addition to the release of essential res...
Mikhl Yashinsky, ed. and trans., *The Mother of Yiddish Theatre: Memoirs of Ester-Rokhl Kaminska*. London: Bloomsbury, 2025.
This intimate self-portrait of Ester-Rokhl Kaminska (1870–1925), a pioneering Yiddish actress, first appeared in the Warsaw daily *Der Moment* (1926-7) and is now translated into English for the first time. The memoir takes us through her life,...
Nathan French, *A Theocentric Interpretation of הדעת טוב ורע: The Knowledge of Good and Evil as the Knowledge for Administering Reward and Punishment*. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2021.
In this scholarly inquiry, Nathan French seeks to address the question: what is the most accurate interpretation of הדעת טוב ורע, or "The Knowledge of Good and Evil," as mentioned in Gen 2:9, 17; 3:5, and 3:22? In Gen 3:5 and 3:22, this knowled...
Ishay Rosen-Zvi, *How to Read the Mishnah and Midrash: An Introduction to Early Rabbinic Literature*. Daniel Tabak, trans. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2026.
The early rabbinic era produced two main literary forms—the Mishnah and Midrash—which have since become fundamental pillars of Jewish textual tradition.This monograph serves as the first comprehensive introduction to these two crucial w...
Hindy Najman, *Scriptural Vitality: Rethinking Philology and Hermeneutics*. New York: Oxford University Press, 2025.
This study contests the perspective that the Persian and Hellenistic periods signify a decline, often referred to as "late Judaism," situated between a once-vibrant Judaism and the rise of Christianity. Conversely, Hindy Najman cont...
Joseph Scales, *Galilean Spaces of Identity: Judaism and Spatiality in Hasmonean and Herodian Galilee*. Leiden: Brill, 2024.
We interpret the world surrounding us through the constructed spaces we inhabit. These spaces are formed by human activities and, in turn, shape the way people live. This book delves into an analysis of archaeological and textual evidence from ...
Lindsey Davidson, *Scribal Culture in Ben Sira*. Leiden: Brill, 2018.
This monograph explores the concept of scribal culture as a lens for analyzing the characteristics of textual referencing in the Book of Ben Sira (c.198-175 BCE), offering fresh perspectives on how Ben Sira crafted his wisdom literature. While ...
Emmylou Grosser, *Unparalleled Poetry: A Cognitive Approach to the Free-Rhythm Verse of the Hebrew Bible*. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023.
For over two and a half centuries, the study of biblical Hebrew poetry has largely been influenced by metrical theories and the concept of parallelism. Although there is a growing agreement that biblical poetry does not adhere to metrical norms...
Alex Jassen, *Violence, Power and Society in the Dead Sea Scrolls*. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2025.
Violence emerges as a pivotal theme within the Dead Sea Scrolls. It captivated the Sectarians who penned these scrolls, viewing themselves as victims of oppression. Their apocalyptic vision was filled with aspirations of retribution against the...
Jacqueline Vayntrub, *Body Language: Voice, Embodiment and Textuality in the Hebrew Bible*. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2026.
Performance, transmission, and corporeality were crucial to ancient understandings of textuality. Written text was far more than a mere memory aid; it served as a formidable tool for encapsulating and conveying the essence of embodied vocal pre...
Archibald L.H.M. van Wieringen and Sehoon Jang, eds., *The Function of the Reader in the Formation and the Reception of the Book of Isaiah*. Leiden: Brill, 2024.
What new insights from readers were vital for the creation of both the Book of Isaiah and external texts such as the Gospel of Luke? In this meticulously curated volume, a team of esteemed international scholars who specialize in Isaiah explore...
Ari Ackerman, *Hasdai Crescas on Codification, Cosmology and Creation: The Infinite God and the Expanding Torah*. Leiden: Brill, 2022.
This study investigates the understanding of God as presented by the medieval Jewish philosopher and legal scholar, Hasdai Crescas (1340-1410/11). It illustrates that Crescas perceives God as infinitely creative and benevolent, while also exami...
Aubrey Buster, *Remembering the Story of Israel: Historical Summaries and Memory Formation in Second Temple Judaism*. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2022.
In this book, Aubrey Buster reveals how techniques taken from cultural and social memory studies, along with the new formalism, can illuminate the communal importance of biblical and extra-biblical historical summaries during the Second Temple ...
Katell Berthelot, *Jews and Their Roman Rivals: Pagan Rome's Challenge to Israel*. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2021.
Throughout their history, Jews have been under the sway of various imperial powers, from Assyria and Babylonia to Persia and the Hellenistic kingdoms. This monograph illustrates how the Roman Empire posed a unique challenge to Jewish intellectu...
Rinat Harash, *Apollo, Dionysus and the Ubermensch at Sinai: An Attempt at a Nietzschean Analysis*. Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2026.
The biblical narrative surrounding Sinai and Moses is pivotal to Jewish and Western culture; however, it has often been regarded only from a religious perspective. In this study, Dr. Rinat Harash offers an insightful interpretation, utilizing N...
Stephanie Binder, *Tertullian and the Jews in Early Christian Literary Imagination*. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2026.
This study investigates Tertullian, known as the first individual to articulate Christian theology in Latin. It emphasizes the critical issues that are essential for understanding his biography and works, particularly focusing on his depiction ...
Rhiannon Graybill, *Are We Not Men? Unstable Masculinity in the Hebrew Prophets*. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
This monograph presents an innovative perspective on gender and embodiment as depicted in the Hebrew Bible. It argues that prophecy disrupts traditional notions of masculinity and alters the way the mainly male Hebrew prophets perceive their ph...
