Curriculum Vitae

Born in Tel-Aviv, Israel, I studied history at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where I received my Ph.D. in ancient history in 1987. After 1988 I was twice a postdoc fellow at the University of Amsterdam, where I have been teaching from 1995. I am a member of the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies and serve as Professor of Yiddish Studies. I teach modern Jewish history and Modern Hebrew culture as well as courses in Yiddish, which is my primary research subject. My research is concentrated on Yiddish culture between 1500 and 1800, and especially on Yiddish book history. Besides going on writing and publishing articles on various aspect of Yiddish culture in the Early Modern Period, at present I am also working on two book projects: 1. an anthology of prefaces of Amsterdam Yiddish books between 1650-1800; and 2.  a monograph on history of reading in Yiddish from the sixteenth to the late eighteenth centuries.

I am editor-in-chief of "Zutot: Perspectives on Jewish Culture", co-editor of  "Studia Rosenthaliana" and an editorial board member of the "European Journal of Jewish Studies". I am also editor-in-chief of the forthcoming "Yiddish Culture and Literature: a Handbook" to be published by De Gruyter Berlin in 2017. I was a member of the academic committee of the research project "Yiddish in The Netherlands: An Expression of Ashkenazi Culture" sponsored by the NWO (The Netherlands) and DFG (Germany).

I regularly lecture at conferences, symposiums and as a guest lecturer in The Netherlands, the rest of Europe, Israel and the United States. I have also held the following posts:

2004-2005 (second semester) Lady Davis Visiting Professor in the department of Yiddish at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

2005-2006 (spring semester) Fellow at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania.

2009-2010 (winter semester) Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

2011 (July) Humfrey-Wanley Fellow at the Bodleian Library/ Exeter College Oxford.

2011-2012 (Michaelmas and Hilary terms) Fellow of the European Advanced Seminar in Old Yiddish at the Oxford Center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.  

2013 (October/December) Research Fellow, Marsh's Library Dublin.

2014-2015 (Hilary and Trinity Terms) Co-Leader of the Oxford Seminar in Advanced Jewish Studies at the Oxford Center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies: on Jewish Books in Amsterdam 1650-1850.

2014-2015 (Hilary and Trinity Terms) Visiting Fellow, Brasenose College Oxford. 

 

 

PUBLICATIONS  

Books (authored):

1. Revolution and Society in Greek Sicily and Southern Italy , Historia Einzelschriften 71: Franz Steiner Verlag- Stuttgart 1992, 128 pp.

[**] Excerpt (pp.36-40) in E.W. Robinson, Ancient Greek Democracy: Readings and Sources , Blackwell-Oxford 2004, 136-139.

2. Classical Oratory and the Sephardim of Amsterdam : Rabbi Aguilar's 'Tratado de la ret ó rica' , Verloren-Hilversum 1996, 141 pp.

3. Travels among Jews and Gentiles: Abraham Levie's Travelogue ( Amsterdam 1764) , Brill-Styx 2002, 207 pp.

4. Producing Redemption in Amsterdam: Early Modern Yiddish Books in Paratextual Perspective (Brill-Leiden 2013) 233 pp.

Books (edited):

1. R., Lemm, Literatuur van verwondering: Essays over Spaans-amerikaanse literatuur , Kok-Agora 1995 [with Ch. De Cloet and A. Reesink-Groeneveld], 156 pp.

2. Speaking Jewish - Jewish Speak: Multilingualism in Western Ashkenazi Society , Peeters-Leuven 2003 = Studia Rosenthaliana 36 (2002-2003) [with A. Pomerance, A. Schatz and E. Schrijver :], 344 pp.

3. Jewish Ceremonial Objects in Transcultural Context , Peeters-Leuven 2004 = Studia Rosenthaliana 37 (2004) [with J-M. Cohen and I. Zwiep], 420 pp.

4. Epigonism and the Dynamic of Jewish Culture = Studia Rosenthaliana 40 (2007-2008) [with I. Zwiep] 295 pp.

5. Reading Texts on Jews and Judaism in the Low Countries = Studia Rosenthaliana 42- 43 (2010-2011) 260 pp.

6.  Mapping Jewish Amsterdam: the Early Modern Perspective = Studia Rosenthaliana 44 (2012) [together with Schrijver, E. and I. Zwiep] 269 pp.

Editing:

1 . Zutot; Perspectives on Jewish Culture (Brill-Leiden)

vol. 1, 2001 / vol. 2, 2002 / vol. 3, 2003/ vol. 4, 2004/ vol. 5, 2008 / vol. 6, 2009 / vol. 7 2010/ vol. 8, 2011 / vol. 9 (2012) / vol. 10 (2013) / vol. 11 (2014)

2. Amsterdam Yiddish Symposium (Menasseh ben Israel Institute-Amsterdam)

Vol. 1: The Bible in/and Yiddish (Amsterdam 2006 [2007])

Vol. 2: The Multiple Voices of Modern Yiddish Literature (Amsterdam 2007)

Vol. 3: Early Yiddish Poetry (Amsterdam 2008)

Vol. 4: Yiddish Storytelling (Amsterdam 2009)

Vol. 5: The Politics of Yiddish (Amsterdam 2010)

Vol. 6: From the Shtetl to the Metropolis (Amsterdam 2011)

Vol. 7: Between Yiddish and Hebrew  (Amsterdam 2012)

Vol. 8: Yiddish Cities: Montreal, Melbourne, Tel-Aviv (Amsterdam 2013)

Articles:

1. 'Pap. Ox. xxiv, 2399 and the Opposition to Agathocles', Zeitschrift fuer Papyrologie undEpigraphiek 71 (1988) 93-96.

2. 'Democracy in the Greek West and the Athenian Example', Hermes 117 (1989) 303-314.

3. 'Revolution and Constitution in Thurii: Aristotle, Politeia1307a,b', Eranos 88 (1990) 9-16.

4. 'Great and Small Poleis in Sicily : Syracuse and Leontinoi', Historia 40 (1991) 129-142.

5. 'Seven Cities in Sicily : Thuc.6.20.2-3', Hermes 120 (1992) 421-424.

6. 'Remus, Romulus and Sephardic Jews in Amsterdam ', Studia Rosenthaliana 26 (1992) 38-45.

7. 'Codices Gentium: Rabbi Aboab's Collection of Classical Literature', Studia Rosenthaliana 29 (1995) 5-13.

8. 'Amadores das musas', Scripta Classica Israelica 15 (1996) 274-288.

9. 'Undzer Bruder Spinoza: Yiddish Authors and the Free Thinker', Studia Rosenthaliana 30 (1996) 255-268.

10. 'The Desire to Travel: a Note on Abraham Levie's Yiddish Travelogue (1719-1723), Aschkenas 6 (1996) 497-506.

11. 'On Abraham Levie's Travelogue', Chulyot 4 (1997) 39-52 [in Hebrew]

12. 'Yiddish between the Holy and the Profane' in Weerdenburg, J., H. Talsma and S. Timmerman (eds.), Joodse Cultuur ( Utrecht 1998) 63-78 [in Dutch].

13. '"For Women and Men Who Are Like Women": A variance of a topos in an Amsterdam Yiddish printed book (1699)' in Vliegen, M. and J. van Maren (eds.), Uten schatsrinen des herten : vriendenboek voor Henk Meijering bij zijn afscgeid ( Amsterdam 1998) 13-17 [in Dutch].

14. [with M. Aptroot and E.Schrijver] 'Forschung zum Jiddischen in den Niederlanden' in Aptroot A. et al., Jiddische Buecher und Handschriften aus den Niederlanden (Amsterdam/ Duesseldorf 2000) 57-59.

15. 'Yiddish Sources for Dutch Jewish History'in Bethlehem . J. et al. (eds.), Gids voor de onderzoeknaar de geschiedenis van de joden in Nederland (Amsterdam 2000) pp. 62-72 [in Dutch].

16. 'The Beginnings of Yiddish Journalism', Chulyot 6 (2000) 363-371[in Hebrew].

17. 'For Which Variety of Speeches Should a Jew Study Greek Rhetoric in 17th Century Amsterdam ?', Studia Rosenthaliana 34 (2000) 153-167.

18. 'Isaac De Pinto's Testament: a Case of Multiple Images?' in Kaplan Y. and Ch. Brasz (eds.), Dutch Jews as Perceived by Themselves and by Others (Leiden 2001) 79-91.

19. 'Ashkenazim Read Sephardim: Amsterdam in the 17th and 18th Centuries' in Zwiep I. et al. (eds.), Uprooted Roots : A msterdam and the early Sephardic diaspora = Studia Rosenthaliana 35 (2002) 253-265.

20. 'Tsene-Rene: the Yiddish "National" Text' in Mathijsen M. and J. Leersen (eds), Oerteksten. nationalisme edities en canonvorming (Amsterdam 2002) 125-130.

21. 'Editing Pre-Modern Yiddish and the " Absence " of Text', Variants: The Journal of the European Society for Textual Scholarship 1 (2002) 219-226.

22. 'Horace et la question de la culture h é bra ï que au xix e si è cle' Les Cahiers du Juda ï sme 14 (2003) 108-115.

23. 'East European Jews in Amsterdam : Historical and Literary Anecdotes', East European Jewish Affairs 33 (2003) 113-120.

24. 'On the Use of Hebrew Words in Parenthesis in a Yiddish Version of Keter Malkhut ( Amsterdam 1673)', Zutot 3 (2003) 34-39.

25. 'Bibles and Publishers: Yiddish Paratexts in Amsterdam ' in Dauven K. et al., Paratext: The Fuzzy Edges of Literature (Amsterdam2004) 127-138.

26. 'AnInvitation toBuy and Read: Yiddish Paratexts in Amsterdam 1650-1800', Book History 7 (2004) 31-61.

27. 'A Zuta on Cemeteries, Funerals andBurial Customsin Abraham Levie's Travelogue (Amsterdam 1764)' inKlein B.E. and C.E. M ü ller (eds.), Memoria: Wege juedischen Erinners (Berlin 2005) 211-215.

28. Translation Between Language and Culture: the Yiddish Version of Benjamin of Tudela's Travels (Amsterdam 1691) , Vossius Series of Inaugural Lectures, Amsterdam UP 2005, 22pp.

29. Yiddish and Jewish Modernization of the 18 th Century , The 12 th Annual Lecture of the Braun Family Chair of the History of the Jews in Prussia, Bar-Ilan University 2006, 25pp. [in Hebrew].

30. [With R. Fontaine] '"Something on EverySubject": on Pre-Modern Hebrew and Yiddish Encyclopaedias', Journal for Modern Jewish Studies 5 (2006) 269-284.

31. 'From Philosophy to Popular Ethics: Two 17th Century Yiddish Translations of Ibn Gabirol 's Keter Malkhut " in Fontaine R. et al. (eds.), Sepharad in Ashkenaz: Medieval Knowledge and Eighteenth Century Enlightened Jewish Discourse (Amsterdam 2007) 223-233.

32. ' Interpreting Freud: The Yiddish Philosophical Journal Davke Investigates a Jewish Icon', Science in Context 20 (2007) 303-316.

33. 'Yiddish on the Borderlines of Modernity: Language and Literature in Early Modern Ashkenazi Culture', Jahrbuch des Simon-Dubnow-Institut 6 (2007) 113-122.

34. 'Functioning Within a Diasporic Third Space: The Case of Early Modern Yiddish', JSQ 15 (2008) 68-86.

35. 'Yiddish Book Production in Amsterdam 1650-1800: Local and International Aspects' in Y. Kaplan (ed.), The Dutch Intersection. The Jews and The Netherlands in Modern History (Brill-Leiden 2008) 203-212.

36. 'Selling Books in 18 th Century Amsterdam : an Advertising Sale Poster', Zutot: Perspectives onJewish Culture 5 (2008) 129-134.

37. [With I. Zwiep] 'Introduction' in S. Berger and I. Zwiep (eds.), Epigonism and the Dynamic of Jewish Culture = Studia Rosenthaliana 40 (2007-2008) 1-8.

38. [With I. Zwiep] 'Epigones and the Formation of New Literary Canons: Sephardi Anthologies in Eighteenth-Century Amsterdam ' in S. Berger and I. Zwiep (eds.), Epigonism and the Dynamic of Jewish Culture = Studia Rosenthaliana 40 (2007-2008) 147-158.

39. 'The Early Modern Yiddish Book and the Fostering of an Ashkenazi Identity', (The sixteenth A. Stencl lecture) Report of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies 2007-2008 , 29-39.

40 . ' Jüdisch-Deutsch as a Written Dialect of Yiddish in the Netherlands' in J. C. Frakes and J.A. Dauber (eds.), Between Two Worlds: Yiddish-German Encounters = Studia Rosenthaliana 41 (2009) 53-63.

41. 'Philosophy in a Yiddish Key: The Journal DAVKE 's Treatment of Nature', Alef 9 (2009) 113-140.

42. 'Books for the Masses: The Amsterdam Yiddish Book Industry 1650-1800', European Judaism 42 (2009)24-33.

43 'Jiddisch und die Formierung der aschkenasischen Diaspora', Aschkenas 18-19 (2009-2010) 509-527.

44. ' A Bestseller in Context: Referring to the Tsene Rene in Early Modern Yiddish Books' in Fontaine, R. et al. (eds.) Studies in the History of Culture and Science: A Tribute to Gad Freudenthal (2010) 429-439.

45. 'A Diasporic Reading of Seventeenth Century Yiddish Itineraries to Eretz Israel' in Hen, Y. andI. Shagrir (eds.), Ut Videant enContigant: Essays on Pilgrimage and Sacred Space in Honour of Ora Limor (Tel-Aviv 2011) 285-296 [in Hebrew].
46. 'Translation, Interpretation and Transformation: Yiddish between Languages and Culture' in Ernst,P. Et al (eds.), Trans-lation, Trans-nation, Trans-formation: Übersetzen und jüdische Kulturen (Innsbruck-Vienna 2012) 153-163.

47. 'The Oppenheim Collection and Early Modern Yiddish Books: Prague Yiddish 1550-1750', Bodleian Library Record 25 (2012) 37-51.

47a. 'Yiddish Books in Early Modern Prague 1550-1750'  in Sixtova, O. (ed.), Hebrew Printing in Bohemia and Moravia (Academia-The Jewish Museum in Prague, 2012) 177-186.

48. 'Religion, Culture, Literature: on Yehoyesh's Preface to his Yiddish Bible Translation' in Aptroot, M et al (eds.), Leket: Yiddish Studies Today (Duesseldorf 2012) 619-634.

49.  ‘Hayyim ben Jacob Known as Hayyim Druker: Typesetter, Editor and Publisher in Amsterdam’ in Bartal, I. et al (eds.), Studies in Ashkenazi Culture, Women’s History, and the Languages of the Jews Presented to Chava Turniansky (Jerusalem 2013) 157-180 [in Hebrew].

50. 'The Jewish Community of Cochin in an Ashkenazi Perspective', Pe'amim 135 (2013) 105-124 [in Hebrew].

51. ‘A tog in Regensburg: Scholarly Research and a Novel’s Outline’ in Koller, S. et al (eds.), Joseph Opatoshu: a Yiddish Writer between Europe and America (Oxford 2013) 127-136. 

52. ‘Between Manuscript and Print: A Note on Abraham Levie’s Yiddish Travelogue (Amsterdam 1764)’, Zutot 10 (2013) 65-69.

Reviews:

1. Offenberg A., E. Schrijver and F. Hoogewoud (eds.), 'Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana:Treasures of Jewish Booklore' in Open 27 (1995) 238-239 [in Dutch].

2. Orsi D., 'La lotte politica a Siracusa a la meta del IV secolo a.Ch.', in Gnomon (1997) 465-467.

3. Tagliamonte G., 'I figli di Marte' in Gnomon 69 (1997) 564-565.

4. Kronnenberg-Stern, K., 'Emancipation and Poverty: the Ashkenazi Jews of Amsterdam 1796-1850' in Studia Rosenthaliana 34 (2000) 208-211.

5. Michman, J. and M. Aptroot (eds), 'Storm in the Community: Yiddish Political Pamphlets of Amsterdam Jewry 1797-1798' in Haaretz English Edition 27.12.2002= Haaretz Literary Supplement 10.1.2003   [Hebrew version].

6. Kaplan Y., 'From New Christians to New Jews' in Haaretz Literary Supplement and Haaretz English Edition 25.7.2003 = Haaeretz Literary Supplement 25.7.2003 [in Hebrew].

7. Hofer, M., 'Tyrannen, Aristokraten, Demokraten: Untersuchungen zu Staat und Herrschaft im griechischen Sizilien vonPhalaris bis zum Aufstieg von Dionysios I',   in Gnomon 76(2004)180-181.

8. Frakes, J., 'Early Yiddish Texts: 1100-1750' in Journal of Theological Studies 57 (2006) 365-367.

9. Turniansky ,Ch. , 'Glikl: Edition of the Yiddish text and Hebrew translation' in Zemanim   97 (2007) 104-106 [inHebrew].

10. Saperstein, M., 'Exile in Amsterdam : Saul Levi Morteira's Sermons to a Congregation of "NewJews"' in Shofar 26 (2008) 183-185.

11. Saperstein, M., 'Exile in Amsterdam :Saul Levi Morteira's Sermons to a Congregation of "New Jews"' in Zion 71 (2008) 479-484 [in Hebrew]

12. Michman, J. and M. Aptroot (eds), 'Storm in the Community: YiddishPolitical Pamphlets of Amsterdam Jewry1797-1798'in JQR 98 (2008) 123-126.

13. Norich, A. and Y.Z. Eliav (eds.), 'Jewish Literatures and Cultures: Context and Intertext' in RBL 2/2009 ( www.bookreviews.org , 2009).

14. Dauber, J., 'In the Demon's Bedroom: Yiddish Literature and the Early Modern' in  Journal of Jewish Studies  63 (2012) 184-186.

15. Jelen, Sh. et al (eds.), 'Modern Jewish Literatures: Intersections and Boundaries' in Journal of Jewish Studies 63 (2012) 391-392.

16. Wallet, B., van Trigt, P., en H. Polak, 'Sjehechejanoe - Die ons heeft laten leven. Geschiedenis van de Joodse Gemeente Amsterdam (NIHS) van 1945 tot 2010' in Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 125 (2012) 450-452.

Other Professional Articles:

1. 'Yiddish: a World Literature', De Tweede Ronde   20.4 (2000) 76-85 [in Dutch].

2. 'Why do Dutch want to read Yiddish literature?', Levend Joodse Geloof 47.2 (2000)5-6 [in Dutch].

3. 'Abraham Levie: a Jewish grand-tourist in the 18th century', Forverts 17 November 2000 [in Yiddish]  

4. 'Yiddish literature and women' in Papieren Schaten (Vassallucci- Amsterdam 2001) 7-12 [in Dutch].

5. 'Yiddish in Israel anno 2001', Mabat: cultuur, kunst en wetenschap in Israel 47 (2002) 12-13 [in Dutch].

6. 'From dead to living language and vice versa: Hebrew and Yiddish in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries', Alef-Bet 15 (2005) 39-49 [in Dutch].

7. 'Amsterdam: the Portuguese Synagogue - Jews on the Amstel' in M. Prak (ed.), Plaatsen van Herinnering: Nederland in de zeventiende eeuw (Amsterdam 2006) 357-365 [in Dutch].

8. ' Yiddish Books and Their Publishers: Yosef Athias's Yiddish Bible ( Amsterdam 1679)', www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/cajs/fellows06 : Centre for Advanced JudaicStudies-UPENN Library Web Exhibition: 2006.

9. 'The Library as a Beth Midrash: Leo Fuks and the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana 1946-1971', Studia Rosenthaliana 38-39 (2005-06) 107-114.

10. 'The Yiddish Philosophical journal DAVKE (1949-1982)', Forverts 20 April 2010 [in Yiddish]

11. ' Materializingthe Text:   On Early Modern Yiddish Books' in Jewish Objects (The Frankel Institute Annual, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 2010) 40-43.

12. 'From Lublin to Dublin (by way of Amsterdam): An Exhibition of Jewish Books in Marsh's Library', Exhibition Leaflet Dublin (2014)/

Yiddish

From January 1 2005 I hold the chair of Yiddish Studies, which was established by the Menasseh ben Israel Institute (Jewish research institute of the University of Amsterdam and the Jewish Historical Museum). In this capacity I regularly offer the following during the academic year:

1. Introductory lecture on subjects related to Yiddish culture: (a 7 weeks module, 2 hours a week) [5 ECT points]:

       2005-06: "Bible in/and Yiddish".

       2006-07: "Introduction to Modern Yiddish Literature". 

       2007-08: "Yiddish Poetry Throught the Ages"

       2008-09: "The Art of Story Telling: the Yiddish Mayse"

       2009-2010: "The Politics of Yiddish"

       2010-2011: "From the Shtetl to the Metropolis"

       2011-2012: "Between Yiddish and Hebrew"

       2012-2013: "Yiddish Urban Culture"  

       2013-2014: "Yiddish: a Historical Overview"

       2014-2015  "On Love, Life and Death: Yiddish Poetry"

 

2. Graduate students of the faculty's Research M.A. "Literary Theory" are offered tutorials in Yiddish culture and literature in Yiddish and/or in translation.

3. Each academic year a symposium is organzied, and usually on the subject of my lecture. The delivered lectures are published in the series "The Amsterdam Yiddish Symposium".

     22 December 2005: "Bible in/and Yiddish" [booklet published in 2007].

    7 December 2006: "The Multiple Voices of Modern Yiddish" [booklet published in 2007].

   20 December 2007: "Early Yiddish Poetry" [booklet published in 2009]

   11 December 2008: "The Art of Yiddish Stroy Telling" [booklet published in 2009]

  13 December 2009: "The Politics of Yiddish" [booklet published in 2010]]

    19 December 2010: "From the Shtetle to the Metropolis" [booklet 2011].

    10 January 2012: "Ashkenazi Languages: between Yiddish and  Hebrew" [booklet 2012]

    9 December 2012: " Yiddish Cities: Melbourne, Montreal, Tel-Aviv"  [booklet 2013]

   19 December 2013: "Centers and Margins in Yiddish Culture" [booklet in print]

    4  December 2014:  "Dutch in Yiddish / Yiddish in Dutch"

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