Center forJEWISH STUDIESH A R VA R D U N I V E R S I T Y

VOL XX, NUMBER 2

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CJS NEWSwin

ter2009-10

IN THIS ISSUE:

• STUDENT NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-3

• LECTURES & HAPPENINGS . . . . . 4-6

• CENTERVISITORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7-9

• 2008-09 AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS . .10

CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIESDIRECTOR: Shaye J.D. Cohen

ACTING DIRECTOR, SPRING 2009: BernardSeptimus

ADMINISTRATOR: Rachel Rockenmacher

STAFF ASSISTANT: Brenna Wells

CHAIR, FRIENDS OF THE CENTER FOR JEWISHSTUDIES: Peter J. Solomon

MEMBERS OF THE CJS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEESTEERING COMMITTEE:Shaye J.D. Cohen, Peter E. Gordon, RachelGreenblatt, Jay M. Harris, Jon D. Levenson, PeterMachinist, Luis Girón Negrón, Eric Nelson, BernardSeptimus, Ruth R. Wisse

ADVISORY COMMITTEE:Irit Aharony, Charles Berlin, Noah Feldman,Marshall Goldman, Stephen Greenblatt, JeffreyHamburger, Kevin Madigan, Jonathan W. Schofer,Kay Shelemay, Doris Sommer, Susan Suleiman,Andrew Teeter, Yuri Vedenyapin

CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIESHarvard University6 Divinity AvenueCambridge, MA 02138PHONE: 617-495-4326E-MAIL: cjs@fas.harvard.eduFAX: 617-496-8904

http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~cjsPHOTOS: Marcus HaleviDESIGN: erin.dowling@verizon.net

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StudentNEWS

COVER PHOTOBernard (Berel) Septimus is Jacob E. Safra Professor ofJewish History and Sephardic Civilization

UNDERGRADUATEPRIZES

The Center for Jewish Studies at HarvardUniversity is pleased to announce therecipients of the 2009 Norman

Podhoretz Prize in Jewish Studies and the 2009Selma and Lewis Weinstein Prize in JewishStudies.

JONATHAN GOULD ’10, a senior in EliotHouse, won last year’s Norman Podhoretz Prizein Jewish Studies for his essay, “Pluralism,Education, and Acculturation: The Scopes Trialand American Jewish Life in the 1920’s.” Thisaward “is given to the Harvard University stu-dent who submits the best essay, feature article,or short story on a Jewish theme. A tribute to

Norman Podhoretz, editor of Commentarymagazine from 1960 to 1995, the prize issponsored by the Ernest H. Weiner Fund at theAmerican Jewish Committee.”

SAMUEL JACOBY ’09, a graduate inPforzheimer House and JACOB VICTOR ’09,a graduate in Leverett House, both won lastyear’s Selma and Lewis Weinstein Prize inJewish Studies. Samuel Jacoby’s entry was“Rabbi Abendana’s Kuzari: The Story of a Bookin 17th Century Amsterdam” and Jacob Victor’sentry was “A Sort of Columbus to Those Near-at-Hand: The Cultural Vision of Saul Bellow”.The Weinstein Prize, which is given to theHarvard University student or students who sub-mit the best undergraduate essay in Jewish stud-ies, was established by Lewis H. Weinstein,A.B. 1927, LL.B. 1930. �

by Shaye J.D. Cohen, Director, Nathan Littauer Professor ofHebrew Literature and Philosophy

On behalf of all of us at the Center for Jewish Studies, Iwould like to personally thank Professor Bernard “Berel”Septimus for assuming the Directorship of the Center dur-ing my sabbatical last spring. I had the good fortune ofbeing away during a particularly difficult and stressful time,as all centers, departments, and schools were under strongpressure from the central administration to help alleviatethe financial problems of the university. In innumerablemeetings with deans of all stripes, Berel was able to negoti-ate the tricky challenge of being a faithful custodian of the

Center’s assets while also being a good corporate citizen of theuniversity.Thank you, Berel.We appreciate the time and energyyou devoted to the Center.

—Shaye Cohen

Bernard (Berel) Septimus is Jacob E. Safra Professor of Jewish History andSephardic Civilization and teaches courses onTalmud, medieval Judaeo-Arabicand Jewish thought.

THANK YOU, BEREL

54 CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIES WINTER 2009-103

StudentPROFILE

Eve Levavi Feinstein’s interest in Jewishstudies began when she was growingup in New York’s Upper West side. “I

was always surrounded by Jewish texts” sheexplains, between growing up in an obser-vant Jewish household, attending a Jewishday school and synagogue. It was the histori-cal contexts and historical meanings of theBible that particularly caught her attention. Incollege at Brandeis University, Eve majoredin Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, studiedwith Professor Marc Brettler, and focused heracademic work on the Bible and the AncientNear East.

Now a Ph.D. candidate in the Hebrew Bibleprogram in the Department of Near EasternLanguages and Civilizations, Eve hopes tocomplete her doctoral dissertation this year.Eve’s dissertation focuses on the concepts ofsexual pollution and purity, exploring the textsin the Hebrew Bible that use purity and pollu-tion language to describe sexual relationshipsthat are considered problematic. Sheexplains that one of her major findings is thatsexual pollution is not synonymous with sexu-al transgression. For example, sexual trans-gression is always attributed to the female

partner, even if the woman is a victim. InDeut 24:4, sexual pollution is attributed to awoman, even when there doesn’t seem to beany transgression at all. In this case, a manis not allowed to remarry an ex-wife if shehad been married to another man after theyhad originally divorced (and prior to the pro-

posed remarriage). The language ofthis text seems to indicate that somekind of contamination had taken

place in the woman while she was marriedto her second husband that would make herunworthy for the first. In Genesis 34, inwhich Shechem is accused of violating Dina,his actions are described as having pollutedher.

Grateful for the many resources at Harvardthat have helped Eve in her academic pur-suits, she offers special praise to her advisor,Professor Peter Machinist, for all his help withher project. “He’s been great! He gets veryinvolved with students’ work.” Eve also pointsout that Professor Cohen was particularlyhelpful in helping her to focus her dissertationtopic. In addition, she notes that the course-work and faculty at Harvard have providedher with a strong grounding in aspects of thefield that would not have been possible else-where. She is also grateful for the spirit ofcollegiality among her group of graduate stu-dent friends, and for the funding from the CJSthat enabled her to study German inGermany last summer and is providing herwith a Dissertation Completion Fellowship thisyear. When she graduates, Eve LevaviFeinstein hopes to continue to conductresearch in her field and to teach at a univer-sity. �

EVE LEVAVI FEINSTEIN

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ABOVE: Asya Vaisman has a few words with Starr FellowRebekka Voss at the CJS/NELC reception.

LEFT: Acting Director Bernard Septimus chats with Silver FellowRabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt

BELOW: CJS Assstant Brenna Wells shares some time with AnnCooper, Student Coordinator for NELC and NELC student YaronKlein at the CJS/NELC recption.

CenterHAPPENINGS

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CenterHAPPENINGS

CJS EVENTS 2009

The Harvard University Center for Jewish Studies

A.B. YEHOSHUAAuthor discussed his latest novel

“From Mythology to HIstory: From Mr.Mani to Friendly Fire”

Monday, April 20, 2009

Alan and Elizabeth Doft lecture and PublicationFund

The Harvard University Center for Jewish Studiesand the Post-Medieval JudaismWorkshop

EITAN FISHBANEAssistant Professor of Jewish Philosophy,Jewish Theological Seminary

“Encounters Along the Way: NarrativeTechnique and Mystical Discovery in theZohar”

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Yanoff-Taylor Lecture and Publication Fund

SPECIAL RECEPTIONCJS and the Department of Near EasternLanguages and Civilizations held a jointreception to welcome Spring 2009 VisitingScholars. Open to students, faculty and visi-tors, this reception was held on February 24,2009 and enjoyed by both departments.

OPPOSITE PAGE: There was a large attendance at Dr. A.B. Yehoshua’s talkon April 20, 2009.

ABOVE: Members of CJS and Near Eastern Languages & CIvilizationsenjoyed a joint reception in the First Floor Semitic Museum Gallery

BELOW: Dr. A.B. Yehoshua and Tehilla Altschuler share a post-lecturemoment.

CenterHAPPENINGS

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CenterVISITORS

The Chief Rabbi of Moscow, PINCHASGOLDSCHMIDT, spent the spring 2009semester at the Center for Jewish Studies asour fourteenth Daniel Jeremy Silver Fellow.This fellowship was established in memory ofRabbi Daniel Jeremy Silver (’48), to enablean “active congregational rabbi who hasdemonstrated exceptional intellectual andacademic interest, originality, and energy” toengage in full-time academic research atHarvard.

During his stay at Harvard, RabbiGoldschmidt worked on a study entitled “TheChanging Face of the European Rabbinate:A Study of the Struggle for the Soul of theJewish Communities in Europe at the Turn ofthe 21st Century” and worked closely withfaculty at the Davis Center for RussianStudies.

DANIEL JEREMYSILVER FELLOW

VISITINGRESEARCHERSHARRY STARR FELLOWS INJUDAICA(No specified topic; open to post-doctoral fellows)

YAACOV DEUTSCH, The HebrewUniversity of Jerusalem, Princeton University(spring semester)DAVID GURLEY, University of California,Berkeley (academic year)GIL KLEIN, Cambridge University (WolfsonCollege), Franklin and Marshall College,(spring semester)MICHA PERRY, The Hebrew University ofJerusalem, UCLA Center for Jewish Studies(spring semester)JORDAN ROSENBLUM, Brown University(spring semester)REBEKKA VOSS, Heinrich Heine University,Bar-Ilan University (academic year)

BELOW: Starr Fellows (L-R): Jordan Rosenblum, Micha Perry, YaakovDeutsch, Rebekka Voss, Gantt (David) Gurley, and Gil Klein

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ABOVE: Acting CJS Director Bernard Septimus enjoys a chat with a few Starr Fellows at the receptionINSET: CJS Associate Yaakov Elman

VISITINGPROFESSORSThe Center for Jewish Studies hosted ISAIAHM. GAFNI, Sol Rosenbloom Professor of

Jewish History at he HebrewUniversity in Jerusalem, as ourGerard Weinstock VisitingProfessor of Jewish Studies dur-ing the spring 2009 semester.

With the support of visiting pro-fessorships and certain otherendowment funds, the Center isable to host leading scholars inJewish studies to supplement the

courses offered by our full-time faculty atHarvard. Professor Gafni garnered ravereviews from his students. He taught twoclasses,“Land, Center, and Diaspora inAncient Judaism” and “History andHistoriography in Rabbinic Literature.”

FELLOWS &POST-DOCTORALFELLOWSFU XIAOWEI, Sichuan International StudiesUniversity (China)TEHILLA ALTSCHULER, The HebrewUniversity of JerusalemAVIRAM RAVITZKY, Ben-Gurion Universityof the Negev

ASSOCIATESYAAKOV ELMAN, Yeshiva UniversityAARON KATCHEN, Independent scholar

HARRY STARRFELLOWSHIP INJUDAICA

We welcomed our fifteenth groupof Harry Starr Fellows inJudaica for the 2008-2009

academic year. This fellowship was estab-lished with a generous bequest from theestate of Harry Starr, ’21, former president ofthe Lucius Littauer Foundation of New York, tosupport a group of scholars from around theworld to gather at Harvard to engage in full-time research in Judaica.

Though the Executive Committee of theCenter normally designates a subject areawithin the field of Jewish studies aroundwhich the Starr Fellowship is organized,every few years we leave the topic openand invite a group emerging new scholars inJewish studies to come to Harvard as Post-Doctoral Fellows.

Last year, we hosted a vibrant and diversegroup of Post-Doctoral Fellows from aroundthe world. Here they were able to share theirresearch with each other as well as withmembers of the Harvard community. Theirweekly presentations throughout the springsemester spanned a wide range of topics(see list of Starr Seminars) and elicited livelydiscussions. This group of Starr Fellows wasparticularly thankful for the opportunity the fel-lowship provided to concentrate on theirresearch and publications with access to allthe resources Harvard has to offer. Manycommented on the importance of this experi-ence in helping to their academic careers inJewish studies. �

HARRY STARR FELLOWSHIPIN JUDAICASEMINARS

February 18,2009YAACOV DEUTSCH“‘When Ropes He Pulls, With RubbishHe’s Full’—Jewish Responses toChristianity in the Medieval and EarlyModern Period”

February 25,2009MICHA PERRY“The Imaginary War Between Prester Johnand Eldad the Danite and Its Implicationson Medieval Reality”

March 4,2009DAVID (GANTT) GURLEY“Gestures Toward the Modern: MeïrAaron Goldschmidt and the Birth ofJewish Realism”

March 11,2009REBEKKA VOSS“Why are the Jews Beyond theSambatyon Red? A Christian Motif inJewish Exile”

March 18,2009JORDAN ROSENBLUM“The ‘Goy’ of Cooking: Jew and Non-Jewin the Tannaitic Kitchen”

April 29,2009GIL KLEIN“Sages on Couches: The Architecture ofRoman Triclinia and Rabbinic Notions ofSacred Time and Space”

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CenterVISITORS

RIGHT Starr Fellows (L-R): Yaakov Deutsch, JordanRosenblum and Gantt Gurley

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GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIPSACADEMIC YEAR 2008-2009

Gabriela Berzin (NELC), Raphael and DeborahMelamed FellowshipDebra Caplan (NELC), Lewis and Alice SchimbergGraduate Student FellowshipJessica Fechtor (NELC), Sidney L. Solomon EndowedFellowshipAri Finkelstein (NELC), Leo Flax Fellowship in JewishStudiesDavid Flatto (NELC), Alan M. Stroock Family Fellowshipfor Advanced Research in JudaicaJennifer Heilbronner (NELC), Sosland Family FellowshipKelly Johnson (NELC), Raphael and Deborah MelamedFellowship//Mandell Berman FellowshipMihaly Kalman (NELC), Sidney L. Solomon EndowedFellowshipHilary Kapfer (NELC), Leo Flax Fellowship in JewishStudiesJonathan Kaplan (NELC), Isadore Twersky FellowshipEitan Kensky (NELC), Lewis and Alice SchimbergGraduate Student FellowshipShana Komittee (Ad-Hoc), Sosland Family FellowshipJared (Yehuda) Kurtzer (NELC), Alan M. Stroock FamilyFellowship for Advanced Research in JudaicaMarcie Lenk (Religion), Alan M. Stroock FamilyFellowship for Advanced Research in JudaicaEvan Mayse (NELC), Lewis and Alice SchimbergGraduate Student FellowshipMeital Orr (NELC), Sidney L. Solomon EndowedFellowshipElisha Russ-Fishbane (NELC), Alan M. Stroock FamilyFellowship for Advanced Research in JudaicaAdam Strich (NELC), Aaron Rabinowitz FellowshipChristine Thomas (NELC), Center for Jewish StudiesFellowshipEster-Basya Vaisman (NELC), Alan M. Stroock FamilyFellowship for Advanced Research in Judaica

GRADUATE SUMMER FUNDING2009

Debra Caplan (NELC), Edward H. Kavinoky Fellowship,Lewis and Alice Schimberg Graduate StudentFellowshipEve Feinstein (NELC), Anna Marnoy Feldberg FellowshipAri Finkelstein (NELC), Barney and Anne B. MalloyFellowshipKelly Johnson (NELC), Anna Marnoy Feldberg FellowshipJonathan Kaplan (NELC), Edward H. Kavinoky FellowshipMihaly Kalman (NELC), Anna Marnoy FeldbergFellowshipJonathan Kaplan (NELC), Edward H. Kavinoky FellowshipLuke Leafgren (Literature and Comparative Literature), AnnaMarnoy Feldberg FellowshipJonathan Lipnick (Religion), Barney and Anne B. MalloyFellowshipEvan Ariel Mayse (NELC), Barney and Anne B. MalloyFellowshipSreemati Mitter (History), Barney and Anne B. MalloyFellowshipAlexandr (Sasha) Senderovich (Slavic), Barney and AnneB. Malloy FellowshipSara Yudkoff (NELC), Edward H. Kavinoky Fellowship

UNDERGRADUATE AWARDS FORTHE HARVARD SUMMER SCHOOLPROGRAM IN JERUSALEM2008

Gracye Chang, Hertog Fund for Undergraduate StudyAbroadMatthew Cohen, Hertog Fund for Undergraduate StudyAbroadJoy Goldstein, Hertog Fund for Undergraduate StudyAbroadKaren Johnson, Hertog Fund for Undergraduate StudyAbroadEmmett Kistler, Hertog Fund for Undergraduate StudyAbroadJoseph Mendelbaum, Hertog Fund for UndergraduateStudy AbroadWyatt Gelichauf, Hertog Fund for Undergraduate StudyAbroadJake McCauley, Hertog Fund for Undergraduate StudyAbroadJonathan Mizrahi, Hertog Fund for Undergraduate StudyAbroadAbishai Vase, Hertog Fund for Undergraduate StudyAbroadJonathan Warsh, Hertog Fund for Undergraduate StudyAbroadRachel Zax, Hertog Fund for Undergraduate StudyAbroad

AWARDS&FELLOWSHIPS

Center forJEWISH STUDIESH A R VA R D U N I V E R S I T Y

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDBOSTON, MA

PERMIT NO. 16366 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138www.fas.harvard.edu/~cjs

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