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IN THIS ISSUE:

• SUMMER SCHOOLpage 1

• NEW FUNDSpage 2

• FACULTY NEWSpages 3-4

• VISITING SCHOLARSpages 5-6

• STUDENT ACTIVITIESpages 8-10

• UNDERGRADUATE PRIZESpage 11

“During the six weeks of the program the

students took two courses, did a lot of

touring, and ate a lot of falafel.”—Shaye Cohen, Director

See Harvard Summer Program in Jerusalem,page 1

C E N T E R F O RJEWISH STUDIES

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CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIES SUMMER 20071

Summer 2007 witnessed a “first”: the firstever Harvard Summer Program in

Jerusalem. Each summer, the Harvard Officeof International Programs and the HarvardSummer School jointly sponsor a variety ofstudy abroad programs for undergraduates,and this year for the first time Jerusalem was

BY PROFESSOR SHAYE J.D. COHEN

HARVARD SUMMERPROGRAM IN JERUSALEM

one of the options. Eleven studentsparticipated: nine Harvard Collegeundergraduates, one Harvard ExtensionSchool student, and a student from Toronto.

During the six weeks of the program thestudents took two courses, did a lot oftouring, and ate a lot of falafel. The twocourses, one ancient and one modern, weredesigned to take advantage of the setting.The ancient course, “Sects and Parties inAncient Judaism” was taught by Prof. ShayeJ.D. Cohen, the modern course, “Zionismand the Emergence of Modern Israel,” byProf. Jay Harris. As a group, the studentstoured the Old City of Jerusalem, Qumran,Masada, Bet Shearim, Sepphoris, ZikhronYaakov, Safed, and elsewhere. Most students

also toured extensively on their own, someintrepid souls even reaching Jordan andEgypt.

The program was headquartered at theMount Scopus campus of the HebrewUniversity. For about half of the students thiswas their first visit to Israel, and theirexcitement was shared by the others.Students and professors alike agree that theprogram was a success, in spite of onesprained ankle, one broken camera, andsome very hot weather. Plans are underwayto run a similar program in summer 2008.

Student participation in the program wasfacilitated by a generous grant from RogerHertog, to whom we are extremely grateful.�

THIS YEAR, FOR THE FIRST TIME,JERUSALEM WAS AN OPTION FORTHE HARVARD SUMMER SCHOOLINTERNATIONAL PROGRAM.

CENTERNEWS

Members of Summer School in Jerusalem group in front of“Absalom’s Memorial” (Yad Avshalom).

CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIESDIRECTOR: Shaye J.D. Cohen

ADMINISTRATOR: Rachel Rockenmacher

STAFF ASSISTANT: Brenna Wells

CHAIR, FRIENDS OF THE CENTER FORJEWISH STUDIES: Peter J. Solomon

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:Jay M. Harris, Miri Kubovy, RachelGreenblatt, Jon Levenson, Peter Machinist,Avi Matalon, Jonathan Schofer, BernardSeptimus and Ruth Wisse

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/~cjs

DESIGN: Erin P. Dowling

SUMMER 2007 CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIES 2

T he Center for Jewish Studies is delightedto announce two new funds recently

established to support undergraduate studenttravel abroad, either to spend time in Israel orto conduct academic work in the field ofJewish Studies.

BARRY SHRAGE TRAVEL AND RESEARCHFUND FOR JEWISH STUDIES. This endowmentfund was established with a gift from an anony-mous donor and named in honor of the presi-dent of Boston’s Combined Jewish Philanthropies(CJP) in Boston for two decades. Among thecommunity programs developed by the CJPunder Shrage’s leadership were youth initiatives,including an Israel programming for teenagers.This fund will provide awards for studentresearch in Jewish studies that requires Harvardstudents to travel, or to undergraduates “whoseek to gain an international experience by trav-eling, studying, living or working abroad.” Thefirst award Barry Shrage Fellowship was offeredto Milo “Mishy” Harman ‘08 to travel to Israelto conduct research on the Falash Mura.

HERTOG STUDY ABROAD FUND. Thanks to agenerous gift by Roger Hertog, the HertogStudy Abroad Fund “provide[s] financial assis-tance to deserving students in Harvard Collegeparticipating in study abroad programs in Israelled by the Center for Jewish Studies and its affili-ated faculty. Through his generosity the donor isproviding Harvard students with unparalleledopportunities to learn to negotiate foreign cul-tures with the intelligence and compassion nec-essary for true understanding.” This summer, thisfund supported nine undergraduate studentswho participated in the Harvard SummerSchool Program in Jerusalem. �

TWO NEW FUNDSFOR UNDERGRADUATESTUDY ABROAD

RECENTPUBLICATIONSAT THE CENTER

The Center for Jewish Studies is pleased toannounce the recent publication of two

new books, available through HarvardUniversity Press: Prayers that Cite Scripture,edited by James L. Kugel and Creativity andTradition: Studies in Medieval RabbinicScholarship, Literature and Thought, by IsraelM. Ta-Shma. Two more publications are inthe works. �

CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIES SUMMER 20073

FACULTYNEWS

When Yuri Vedenyapin assumed theposition of Preceptor of Yiddish at

Harvard in the fall of 2006, it was somethingof a homecoming. Yuri had arrived here as anundergraduate in 2001 from Moscow wherehe had studied, first acting, then philology,and begun to pursue his interest in Yiddish. Hehad come to Harvard on the personal recom-mendation of the late Mordecai Schaechter,who had taught him in the summer program ofColumbia University and described him as themost naturally gifted student of Yiddish he hadever met. Yuri more than fulfilled his teacher’spromise, and when he graduated fromHarvard College in 2004 he began a doctor-

al program in Yiddish in Columbia’sDepartment of Germanic Languagesand Literatures. He received his MA in2006.

Yuri brings to his teaching of Yiddishboth the enthusiasm of someone who

discovered this culture and the experience ofhaving since taught it in Warsaw, Moscow,and New York. His interests in Yiddish includethe history of the Yiddish press, modernYiddish poetry, comparative Yiddish, Polish,and Russian studies, and contemporaryYiddish-speaking communities, both religiousand secular. One of his major research inter-ests is Yiddish stand up comedy. In April2007 he delivered the Jacob Pat MemorialLecture of the Harvard College Library JudaicaDivision on “Joking their Way from Lodz to TelAviv: the Yiddish Odyssey of Shimen Dziganand Yisroel Shumakher.” Dzigan andShumakher were two of the best-known comicperformers of Poland and Israel.

Yuri is also in great demand as a singer-performer. Accompanying himself on guitar, herecorded with Professor James Russell ofHarvard a CD of Russian songs “The ReflectedSky,” dedicated to Vladimir Nabokov. He hasgiven a number of solo performances ofYiddish and Russian songs.

In 2007-08 Yuri will be teaching Yiddishlanguage classes at the introductory and inter-mediate levels and an introductory course onthe history of Yiddish language and culture. �

YURI VEDENYAPINBY PROFESSOR RUTH WISSE

The Center for Jewish Studies wouldlike to congratulate those studentswho gradated in 2006 and 2007 inJewish Studies:

GIL PERL, Ph.D.Near Eastern Languages andCivilizationsRACHEL NEIS, Ph.D.Near Eastern Languages andCivilizationsYEHUDA MIRSKY, Ph.D.Committee on the Study of ReligionADAM STRICH, A.B./A.M.Joint concentrator in Philosophy andNear Eastern Languages andCivilizations

Yuri Vedenyapin, Preceptor of Yiddish

Rachel Neis, with her parents and partner,Madeline Kochen (also a recent Ph.D.).

SUMMER 2007 CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIES 4

Russian, German, and Ukrainian).Aaron Lansky told us about his childhood

and college years, his discovery of Yiddish,and described his impressive plan to make

the entire body of Yiddish literatureaccessible on the internet. I felt that hisstory resonated with many of the stu-dents, some of whom had only recentlybecome interested in Yiddish and were

seeking ways to make this language an inte-gral part of their education, non-academicactivities, and professional careers.

Browsing the stacks yielded some inter-esting finds: Laura Hirschberg, an accom-plished playwright, bought a collection ofYiddish plays, Mark Stought, a student in theEast Asian program, found Yiddish booksdealing with Japanese culture, while EitanKensky, a first-year Ph.D. candidate in Jewishstudies, came across works written by hisgrandfather, Berl Frimer.

We also had the opportunity to hearBrave Old World—Michael Alpert’srenowned klezmer band—perform streetsongs from the Lodz ghetto. The simple andpoignant songs, carefully articulated in theLodz Yiddish dialect, spoke of a world thathad been lost but must not be forgotten. �

Halfway through the fall semester,Amanda Deutsch and Alex Cohn did a

skit based on the bestselling autobiographyby Aaron Lansky, the founder of the NationalYiddish Book Center. All of a sudden theSever Hall classroom was transformed into anattic and then a driveway, with bags of booksbeing carried back and forth, as the two stu-

dents of elementary Yiddish brought to lifeLansky’s striking tales of salvaging Yiddishbooks around the country.

On April 15, a group of about fifteenstudents (from the Yiddish language coursesand Jewish Studies 104: Introduction toYiddish Language and Culture) gathered onthe steps of the Semitic Museum and board-ed a small bus, sponsored by the Center forJewish Studies, headed for Amherst.

Upon arrival, we were given an exten-sive tour by Debra Caplan, an intern at theCenter and an incoming Ph.D. student atHarvard. She answered questions, including“How many books do you have?” (well overa million) and “What else besides Yiddishbooks do people donate to the Center?”(prayer shawls, skullcaps, tefillin, old post-cards, as well as books in Hebrew, Polish,

A TRIP TO AMHERSTBY YURI VEDENYAPIN

First-year Ph.D. candidate in Jewish studies EitanKensky trying his Yiddish writing skills on the oldYiddish typewriter on display at the NationalYiddish Book Center.

Thursday, February 15, 2007GARY ANDERSON“Redeem Your Sins Through Almsgiving (Dan4:24): The Conception of Merit in Early Judaismand Christianity”

Thursday, February 22, 2007MOSHE BENOVITZ“The Hasmonean Hanukkah as a Turning Point in theDevelopment of the Ritual of Sukkot”

Tuesday, February 27, 2007MOSHE BAR ASHER“The Formulation of Rabbinic Berakhot”

Thursday, March 8, 2007AHARON SHEMESH“Structure and Content in the Dead Sea Scrolls:The Cases of 4Q265 and the Penal Code”

Tuesday, March 13, 2007OHR MARGOLIS“The Order of Seeds: Deeply Rooted in SecondTemple Tradition, or Newly Sprouted in VacantSacred Space?”

Thursday, April 19, 2007CANA WERMAN“For He is the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts” (Mal2:7)

Tuesday, April 24, 2007GARY ANDERSON AND AHARON SHEMESH“How to Edit Ancient Texts”

Thursday, April 26, 2007ELISHA QIMRONISH ITTI Lev 16: 21

Thursday, May 3, 2007LEONARD LEVY, Silver Fellow“From Geonim to Rabbenu Hananel to Rif: TheDecisive Shift in the Eleventh Century (RegardingHow to Decide the Law in Cases of Dispute in theBabylonian Talmud)”

Tuesday, May 8, 2007SHAYE COHEN“Judaean Legal Tradition and the Halakhah of theMishnah”

We recently concluded the thirteenthyear of the Harry Starr Fellows in

Judaica at Harvard. The 2006-2007 StarrFellows gathered around a common academ-ic topic within Jewish studies, “RabbinicJudaism in Antiquity.”

A generous bequest from the estate ofHarry Starr, ‘21, former president of theLucius Littauer Foundation of New York estab-lished the Harry Starr Fellowship in JudaicaFund. This fellowship covers travel expensesand a living stipend for a group of scholarsfrom around the world to gather at Harvardto engage in full-time research in Judaica.We held ten weekly Starr seminars over thecourse of the spring semester, at which indi-vidual Fellows presented their currentresearch to the Starr Fellows, other visitingscholars, faculty and students from Harvardand from other area universities. StarrFellows speak of the importance of this undis-turbed time to focus on academic research,surrounded by a cohort of scholars workingon a similar topic and the many resourcesHarvard provides. �

CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIES SUMMER 20075

VISITINGSCHOLARS &

MOSHE BAR ASHER CANA WERMAN ELISHA QIMRON MOSHE B

HARRY STARRFELLOWSHIP INJUDAICA GATHERSSCHOLARS AROUND TOPICOF “RABBINIC JUDAISM INANTIQUITY”

GARY ANDERSON

STARR FELLOWSSEMINARS&

The Center is pleased to announce the visit-ing fellows, professors, and scholars whowere in residence at Harvard Universityduring the 2006-2007 academic year:

HARRY STARR FELLOWS IN JUDAICA• Gary Anderson • Moshe Bar-Asher• Moshe Benovitz • Elisha Qimron •Aharon Shemesh • Ohr Margolis •Cana Werman

DANIEL JEREMY SILVER FELLOW• Rabbi Leonard Levy

NACHSHON VISITING LECTURER• Derek Penslar

WEINSTOCK VISITING PROFESSORS• Lee Levine• Raymond Scheindlin

ASSOCIATES• Yaakov Elman

VISITING SCHOLAR• Justin Cammy

VISITINGSCHOLARS&PROFESSORS2006-2007

AHARON SHEMESH OHR MARGOLIS

SUMMER 2007 CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIES 6

PROFESSORS

BENOVITZ

GERARDWEINSTOCKVISITINGPROFESSOR INJEWISH STUDIES

Thanks to Visiting Professorshipsat the Center for Jewish

Studies, we are able to supple-ment our regular program in

Jewish studies by bringing in distinguishedscholars from outside Harvard to teach ourundergraduate and graduate students in areasnot covered by our own faculty.

Our Gerard Weinstock Visiting Professor ofJewish Studies during the spring semester wasRAYMOND SCHEINDLIN, Professor ofMedieval Hebrew Literature at JewishTheological Seminary. The Gerard WeinstockVisiting Professorship, established 1976 with agenerous gift from Gerard Weinstock, supportsa scholar to teach at Harvard for a semestereach year, selected by the ExecutiveCommittee of the Center for Jewish Studies.Professor Scheindlin taught two courses duringhis stay, “Jewish Literature in the Islamic World,

650-1300” and “The Poetry ofJudah Halevi.”

DANIEL JEREMYSILVERFELLOW

RABBI LEONARD LEVY, ofthe Jewish Center of Forest

Hills West, Middle Village, NY,spent the spring semester of 2007

at Harvard as our twelfth Daniel Jeremy SilverFellow. Established in memory of Rabbi Daniel

Jeremy Silver (‘48), the Daniel Jeremy SilverFellowship is offered to an “active congrega-tional rabbi who has demonstrated exceptionalintellectual and academic interest, originality,and energy in the pursuit of Jewish scholar-ship.” The recipient spends at least one semes-ter at Harvard engaged in full-time academicresearch.

Rabbi Levi, who holds a Ph.D. from theJewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS),and in addition to his rabbinic duties, hastaught a number of courses at JTS and has pub-lished a number of scholarly articles. During hisstay at Harvard, Rabbi Levy worked on a studyof the development in eleventh century NorthAfrica of psaq halakha based on theBabylonian Talmud, independent from theBabylonian academies and their traditions. �

CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIES SUMMER 20077

ACADEMIC YEAR FUNDING FORGRADUATE STUDENTS 2006-07:The Center for Jewish Studies pro-vided academic year tuition and/orstipend fellowships to 19 graduatestudents in 2006-07.Ester-Basya (Asya) Vaisman (NELC), AaronRabinowitz FellowshipGabriella Berzin (NELC), Raphael andDeborah Melamed FellowshipJessica Fechtor (NELC), AaronRabinowitz FellowshipAryay (Ari) Finkelstein (NELC), Leo FlaxFellowship in Jewish StudiesElisha Russ-Fishbane (NELC), Center forJewish Studies FellowshipDavid Flatto (NELC), Alan M. StroockFamily Fellowship for AdvancedResearch in JudaicaJennifer Heilbronner (NELC), SoslandFamily FellowshipKelly Johnson (NELC), Mandell L.Berman FellowshipHilary Kapfer (NELC), Leo FlaxFellowship in Jewish StudiesJonathan Kaplan (NELC), Center forJewish Studies FellowshipEitan Kensky (NELC), Lewis and AliceSchimberg Graduate StudentFellowship

GRADUATESTUDENTFUNDING

AWARDS2006-07

February 14, 2007“Institutionalizing Jewish Music: A Strongholdof Modern Jewish Identity?”EDWIN SEROUSSIProfessor of Musicology and Director of the JewishMusic Research Center,The Hebrew University of JerusalemCo-sponsored by the the Ethnomusicology Seminar andthe CJS William Landau Lecture and Publication Fund

March 19, 2007“The Life of Jews in Poland before theHolocaust” Readings from Rabbi Gold’s newlypublished memoir

RABBI BEN-ZION GOLDDirector Emeritus, Harvard HillelCo-sponsored by the Study Group on the Jews inModern Europe, Center for European Studies, HarvardHillel and the CJS Leon I. Mirell Lecture Fund

April 12, 2007“Judah Halevi’s Pilgrimage: A View from theDiwan”RAYMOND P. SCHEINDLINProfessor of Medieval Hebrew Literature, Director,Medieval Jewish Studies, The Jewish TheologicalSeminary and Gerard Weinstock VisitingProfessor, Harvard UniversityWilliam Landau Publication and Lecture Fund

April 19, 2007A reading byETGAR KERETIsraeli writerCo-sponsored by CMES, the Modern Hebrew Program,NELC and the CJS Friends for the Center of Jewish Studies

April 24, 2007“Science, Beauty, and God - Reflections on theMeanings of Scientific Discovery”LENN E. GOODMANProfessor of Philosophy and Andrew W. MellonProfessor in the Humanities,Vanderbilt UniversityCo-sponsored by the Harvard Divinity School, Centerfor the Study of World Religions and the CJS DrebenLecture & Publication Fund

April 26, 2007“Joking Their Way from Lodz to Tel Aviv: TheYiddish Odyssey of Shimen Dzigan and YisroelShumakher”YURI VEDENYAPINPreceptor in Yiddish Department of Near EasternLanguages and Civilizations,Harvard UniversityCo-sponsored by the Harvard College Library JudaicaDivision, Jacob Pat Memorial Lecture and the CJSFriends for the Center of Jewish Studies

LECTURES & EVENTS

&

SUMMER 2007 CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIES 8

Shana Komittee (Ad-Hoc), Sidney L.Solomon Endowed FellowshipJared (Yehuda) Kurtzer (NELC), Alan M.Stroock Family Fellowship forAdvanced Research in JudaicaYehudah Mirsky (Religion), Alan M.Stroock Family Fellowship forAdvanced Research in JudaicaRachel Neis (NELC), Alan M. StroockFamily Fellowship for AdvancedResearch in JudaicaMeital Orr (NELC), Sidney L. SolomonEndowed FellowshipGil Perl (NELC), Alan M. Stroock FamilyFellowship for Advanced Research inJudaicaChristine Thomas (NELC), AaronRabinowitz FellowshipMiriam Udel-Lambert (ComparativeLiterature), Isadore Twersky Fellowship,Sidney L. Solomon Endowed Fellowship

GRADUATE SUMMER STUDY ANDRESEARCH AWARDS 2007:The Center for Jewish Studies pro-vided eleven fellowships to gradu-ate students for research and studyduring the summer of 2007.Thomas Connolly (Comparative Literature),Barney and Anne B. MalloyFellowship to attend a HebrewLanguage Course and conductresearch on Paul Celan`s Translationsfrom Hebrew into GermanJessica Fechtor (NELC), Barney andAnne B. Malloy Fellowship, to attendan intensive Hebrew language pro-gram at the University of HaifaInternational SchoolAri Finkelstein (NELC), Anna MarnoyFeldberg Fellowship, to continue study-ing for his doctoral examsDavid Flatto (NELC), Barney and AnneB. Malloy, to travel to Israel and con-tinue research on the topic of themonarchy in early rabbinic writingsRachel Gordan (Religion), Edward H.Kavinoky Fellowship, to continue workon her doctoral dissertation on post-war American Judaism: How JudaismBecame an American ReligionJennifer Heilbronner (NELC), Barney andAnne B. Malloy Fellowship, to travelto Israel and participate in the Tel AvivUniversity Summer Yiddish LanguageProgramYaqub Hilal (NELC), Barney and AnneB.Malloy Fellowship, to attend anintensive Hebrew language programat the University of Haifa InternationalSchool

Jonathan Kaplan (NELC), EdwardKavinoky Fellowship, to engage inintensive research of the history of theinterpretation of the Song of Songsbetween the second century B.C.E.and the sixth century C.E.Eitan Kensky (NELC), Barney and AnneB. Malloy Fellowship, to attend thesummer Yiddish language program atTel Aviv University and participate inthe programming of Yiddish culturalgroups, and to explore the variousYiddish centers and libraries in TelAviv and JerusalemPhilip Loring (History of Science), AnnaMarnoy Feldberg Fellowship, to visitthe archives of Gratz College and theCenter for Advanced Judaic Studies atthe University of PennsylvaniaSong-Mi Park (NELC), Barney and AnneB. Malloy Fellowship, to visit Israel, tostudy modern Hebrew and to conductresearch on her dissertationElisha Russ-Fishbane (NELC), Edward H.Kavinoky Fellowship to travel toJerusalem and research materials atthe Institute of Microfilmed HebrewManuscripts for his dissertationAlexandr (Sasha) Senderovich (Slavic),Anna Marnoy Feldberg Fellowship, tocontinue archival work at the HooverInstitution at Stanford University’sJudaica divisionNir Shafir (CMES), Anna MarnoyFeldberg Fellowship, to work with theIsraeli government archives inJerusalem regarding the establishmentof the Israeli prison service from1948-1967 and then to study at theHebrew University UlpanAdam Strich (NELC), Friends of theCenter for Jewish Studies Fellowship,to further work on two researchpapersMary Windham (NELC), Edward H.Kavinoky Fellowship, to attend theintensive Brandeis Hebrew LanguageSummer Institute

UNDERGRADUATE SUMMERSTUDY AND RESEARCH AWARDS2007:The Center for Jewish Studies pro-vided fellowships to undergraduatestudents for research and study dur-ing the summer of 2007.Milo (Mishy) Harman, Barry ShrageTravel and Research Fund for JewishStudies, to conduct research on theFalash Mura, their ties to Jewish her-itage and debates about their immi-gration to Israel in Ethiopia and inIsrael

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AWARDS

2006-07

Samuel Lissner, Friends of the Center forJewish Studies Fund, to conductresearch on the organization and pub-lic reception of military parades inIsrael

FOR THE HARVARD SUMMERSCHOOL PROGRAM INJERUSALEM, 2007:Sean Padraig Bala, Hertog Fund forUndergraduate Study AbroadRebecca Barmherzig, Martin andJosephine Gang FundBrannon Bilberry, Hertog Fund forUndergraduate Study AbroadJay Cohen, Hertog Fund forUndergraduate Study AbroadBrian Gillis, Hertog Fund forUndergraduate Study AbroadSheila Hoehn, Martin and JosephineGang FundYekaterina Levina, Hertog Fund forUndergraduate Study AbroadSamuel Lissner, Hertog Fund forUndergraduate Study AbroadPhilip Parham, Hertog Fund forUndergraduate Study AbroadRose Ruback, Hertog Fund forUndergraduate Study AbroadJoshua Sharp, Hertog Fund forUndergraduate Study Abroad

HARVARD GRADUATE FELLOW-SHIP FOR STUDY IN ISRAEL:A $12,000 fellowship jointly spon-sored by Harvard University andThe Hebrew University ofJerusalem to enable a Harvardgraduate student or recent gradu-ate student to study in the field ofJewish studies for a year at theRothberg International School atThe Hebrew University ofJerusalem.Jessica Marglin, Harvard CollegeM.A./B.A. class of 2006Ryan Thomas, Harvard Divinity School,M.T.S. programJessica Owen, Harvard Divinity School,M Div. program

CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIES SUMMER 20079

Coming to Harvard was a homecoming ofof sorts for RACHEL GORDAN, who

had grown up and attended a Jewish dayschool in the Boston area. She developed herlove for the study of American Jewish historyas a college at Yale, where she wrote her sen-ior thesis on the Hadassah organization in the

1950s. Later, in a master’s program at Yale, aseminar in American religious history inspiredRachel to continue her studies at the doctorallevel.

Rachel just completed her third year in thePh.D. program in the Committee on the Studyof Religion at Harvard. Currently, she ispreparing for her general exams and conduct-ing research for a dissertation she plans towrite on “how Judaism became an Americanreligion” after World War II. In this study,Rachel hopes to explore how different Jewishleaders and organizations presented Judaismas part of mainstream American culture.

Rachel is grateful for many of the opportu-nities Harvard University has made availableto her. With summer fellowships from theCenter for Jewish Studies, Rachel Gordan hasstudied Hebrew at Jewish TheologicalSeminary and Yiddish at the YIVO Institute forJewish Research. Last year, Rachel particularlyenjoyed working as a teaching fellow in aclass on American religious history.

She has appreciated the “open door poli-cy” of faculty members at Harvard, and theirgenerosity with information and guidance as

she prepares to write her dissertation. “Theyhave been very kind,” remarks Rachel, “eventhose whose specialties are not directly “relat-ed” to her research. Rachel notes that Harvardfaculty members in Jewish Studies such asProfessors Ruth Wisse, Jay Harris and ShayeCohen, who are not on her dissertation com-mittee, have taken the time to listen carefully toher research interests and have providedimportant feedback and insight. Rachelapplauds their “willingness to talk throughideas and offer suggestions, [which has]helped me craft a proposal/dissertation planwhich combines intellectual and social history.”�

STUDENTPROFILES

RACHEL HOPES TO EXPLORE HOWDIFFERENT JEWISH LEADERS ANDORGANIZATIONS PRESENTEDJUDAISM AS PART OF MAINSTREAMAMERICAN CULTURE.

PROFILE RACHELGORDAN

SUMMER 2007 CENTER FOR JEWISH STUDIES 10

PROFILE ARIFINKELSTEIN

ARI FINKELSTEIN grew up in Toronto,where he attended a Jewish day school

“with a European socialist and Zionist philoso-phy.” There he studied Yiddish, Hebrew andFrench. In the second year of college at YorkUniversity, while studying abroad at theHebrew University of Jerusalem, he took aclass on Second Temple History with Prof.Isaiah Gafni and “became interested” inancient Jewish history.

Ari went to law school after college andworked in the field of corporate commerciallaw for about five years. But he was drawnback to Jewish Studies, earned his MA at theHebrew University of Jerusalem where he stud-ied the Second Temple period, and applied tothe Ph.D. program at Harvard. Ari is now inhis fourth year of the Ph.D. program in theDepartment of Near Eastern Languages andCivilizations, studying for his general examsand conducting research for a dissertation. Hisinterests have moved from the period of theSecond Temple to the circumstances aroundthe building of the Third Temple.

Ari explains that, the leader of this move-ment, Julian the Apostate, a former Christianwho declared himself a pagan, never com-

pleted his mission of building a Third Temple.Julian’s aim seems to have been to weakenChristianity to the benefit of paganism.Notwithstanding the short period of his reign,the influence of his writings and actions “werevery threatening” to Christianity, and“Christianity changed after this event” in pro-found ways over the following century.However, no Jewish sources talk about him,beyond some “very questionable” referencesin the Talmud. Ari is interested in examiningthe relationship between Julian and the Jewsand, in particular, how Julian attempted toestablish himself as a leader within the Empireand amongst Jews.

“Harvard has been great,” says Ari.Summer grants from the Center for JewishStudies have enabled Ari to attend summerconferences in Jewish studies in Jerusalem, tostudy Greek at Columbia, and to participatein an archaeological dig in Israel. This knowl-edge of how people dig, Ari explains, hashelped him understand how to better readarchaeological reports. Last summer, heworked as the Teaching Fellow for Harvard’sfirst summer program in Jerusalem. Back inCambridge, he and a colleague set up aworkshop on “Judaism in Antiquity,” develop-ing a community of students and faculty mem-bers interested in this field, and creating aforum for students to present their work. Aricites some of the important resources whichhave been available to him at Harvard: dis-cussions with Starr Fellows and VisitingProfessors at the Center, the wide range ofcourses available, the library’s extensiveJudaica collection, and his experiences as ateaching fellow, including the very practicaltraining in teaching provided by the Derek BokCenter for Teaching and Learning. �

ARI IS INTERESTED IN EXAMININGTHE RELATIONSHIP BETWEENJULIAN THE APOSTATE AND THEJEWS.

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MILO (MISHY) HARMAN ‘08,a junior in Pforzheimer House,won this year’s NormanPodhoretz Prize in Jewish Studiesfor his essay, “What Chutzpah!

Yiddish in the New York Times.” This award“is given to the Harvard University studentwho submits the best essay, feature article, orshort story on a Jewish theme.” A tribute toNorman Podhoretz, editor of Commentarymagazine from 1960 to 1995, the prize issponsored by the Ernest H. Weiner Fund atthe American Jewish Committee.”

ADAM STRICH ‘07,a senior in CurrierHouse, won thisyear’s Selma andLewis Weinstein Prizein Jewish Studies forhis essay, “On theProhibition of Benefitfrom Idols and theirParaphernalia.” The

Weinstein Prize, which “is given to theHarvard University student who submits thebest undergraduate essay in Jewish studies,”was established by Lewis H. Weinstein, A.B.1927, LL.B. 1930.

Honorable mention was also given to JAYREIDLER “The Development of JewishScience: How Christianity and ModernityRevived Jewish Healing” (‘08, a junior inLeverett House) and EMILY VASILIAUSKAS“‘Without/Language’: Ineffability in PaulCelan” (‘07, a senior in Lowell House).

UNDERGRADUATEPRIZES2006-2007