Michal Bar-Asher Siegal

Kurzbiografie

Education

2005-2010 PhD, Judaic Studies, Department of Religious Studies, Yale University. Dissertation title: “Literary Analogies in Rabbinic and Christian Monastic Sources.” Dissertation adviser: Christine Hayes, Professor of Religious Studies in Classical Judaica, Yale University
2002-2006 M.A, magna cum laude, Talmud department, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Thesis title: “Parashat Ma’asrot [Second Tithe and PoorMan’s Tithe] in the Mechilta le-Devarim.” Thesis adviser: Menachem Kahana, Louis Ginzberg Chair of Talmud, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
2003-2005 Auditor in Jewish Studies and Syriac, Harvard University.
1999-2002 B.A, summa cum laude, Talmud Department and the Jewish Studies program, Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Fellowships and sabbaticals

2017-2018 Horace W. Goldsmith Visiting Associate Professor in Judaic Studies, Yale University; Yale Divinity School
Summer 2015 Fellow at the Center for Jewish Studies, Harvard University
2011-2012 Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica, Harvard University
2010-2011 Postdoctoral fellow, “Jewish Culture in the Ancient World,” Haifa University

Teaching Positions

2015- Senior lecturer (tenured, equivalent to US associate Professor), The Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought, Ben Gurion University
2012-2015 Lecturer, (tenure-track, equivalent to US assistant Professor), The Rosen Family Career Development Chair in Judaic Studies, The Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought, Ben Gurion University
2011-2012 Visiting lecturer, The department of Hebrew Culture Studies, Tel Aviv University
2010-2011 Visiting lecturer, Department of Talmud, Bar-Ilan University
2010 Visiting lecturer, Department of Jewish History, Haifa University
2008 Instructor in Rabbinics, Yale Divinity School
2007-2008 Teaching fellow, Yale University
2006-2008 Visiting lecturer, Department of Religion, Smith College

University Service

Head of MA students' academic Committee, department of Jewish Thought, Ben Gurion University (2018-
Member of the Steering Committee of the Center for the Study of Conversion and Inter-Religious Encounters, Ben Gurion University (2018-
Member of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences BA committee, Ben Gurion University (2016-17)
Head of BA students' academic Committee, department of Jewish Thought, Ben Gurion University (2013-16)

Professional functions outside universities/institutions

2018- Member of the executive committee of the Israel Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities
2018-2022 Member of the Advisory Board of the DFG Centre of Advanced Studies "Beyond the Canon", University of Regensburg, Germany
2016-2020 An elected member of The Israel Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities
2014-2015 Member of the Young Scholars Forum in the Humanities, The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities

Editorial Duties

Co-editor, Oqimta: Studies in Talmudic and Rabbinic Literature
Co-editor, Jewish Thought
Guest editor, Jewish Studies Quarterly 25:3; 25:4 (2018)

Research grants

2017-2020: ISF research grant: "The Church Fathers and the Babylonian Talmud: Heretics Stories as a Reflection of Inter-Religious Dialogue" (no. 1199/17). 330,000 nis

Ad-hoc reviewer

For journals: Jewish Studies Quarterly (JSQ); The Journal of Ancient Judaism (JAJ); Journal of Jewish Studies (JJS); Studies in Christian Jewish Relations (SCJR); AJS Review; Journal of Late Antiquity (JLA); Jewish Quarterly Review (JQR)
Grant evaluations: European Research Council (ERC); The German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF)

Kurzbibliografie

Books

1. Early Christian Monastic Literature and the Babylonian Talmud, Cambridge University Press, 2013. Winner of the Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise (2014)

Reviews

1. Catherine Hezser, Journal of Jewish Studies 68 (2017), pp. 411-413

2. Samuel Rubenson, Theologische Literaturzeitung 141:9 (2016), pp. 893–894

3. Florence Jullien. Abstracta y4e5rIranica, Volume 34-35-36 (2016) [French]

4. Ilaria Briata, Henoch 38:1 (2016), pp. 125-128 [Spanish]

5. Richard Hidary, Review of Rabbinic Judaism 19 (2016), pp. 283–291

6. Joshua Schwartz, Review of Biblical Literature 08/2016

7. Albert Baumgarten, Zion 81:2 (2016), pp. 249-256

8. Michael L. Satlow, Journal of Early Chirstian Studies 24:2 (2016), pp. 295-296

9. Daniel Boyarin, Marginalia, Los Angeles Review of Books June 9, 2015

10. Gary Anderson, AJS Review 39:1 (2015), pp 167 - 170

11. Holger Zellentin, Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations 10 (2015)

12. Jonathan L. Zecher, Reviews in Religion & Theology 22:2 (2015), pp. 192–194

13. Sergey Dolgopolski; Moulie Vidas; Christine Hayes, The Talmud Blog (March 29, 2015)

14. Joshua Kulp, Prooftexts 33 (2013), pp. 381–394

2. Jewish – Christian Dialogues on Scripture in Late Antiquity: Heretic Narratives of the Babylonian Talmud, Cambridge University Press (forthcoming 2019).

Edited volumes:

3. The Faces of Torah: Studies in the Texts and Contexts of Ancient Judaism in Honor of Steven Fraade, co-editor with Christine Hayes and Tzvi Novick, Supplements to the Journal of Ancient Judaism, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2017.

4. Perceiving the Other in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, co editor with Matthew Thiessen and Wolfgang gruenstaeudl, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Series, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017.

Reviews:

1. Max Botner, Reviews of Biblical and Early Christian Studies (2017)

2. Old Testament Abstracts 41 (2018), pp. 514-515

3. New Testament Abstracts 62 (2018), pp. 358-359

Research Articles

1. “The Problem of Evil in the Syriac Translation of the Book of Ben Sira: the Differences between the Hebrew and the Syriac Texts Reconsidered,” Shenaton leHeqer haMikra 19 (2009), pp. 137-151 [=Hebrew]

2. “The Treatment of Poverty and Theodicy in the Syriac Translation of Ben Sira,” Aramaic Studies 7.2 (2009), pp. 131–54

3. “The Unintentional Killer: Mishnah Makkot and its Midrashic Sources,” Journal of Jewish Studies 61.1 (2010), pp. 30-47

4. “The Making of a Monk-Rabbi: the Background for the Creation of the Stories of R. Shimon bar Yohai in the Cave,” Zion 76:3 (2011), pp. 279-304 [=Hebrew]

5. “Shared Worlds: Rabbinic and Monastic literature,” Harvard Theological Review 105 (2012), pp. 423-56

6. “Talmudic Monks: Early Christian Monastic and Rabbinic Literatures,” Zemanim 120 (2012), pp. 110-17 [=Hebrew]

7. “Mountains hanging by a strand? Re-reading mishnah Hagiga 1:8,” Journal of Ancient Judaism 4 (2013), pp. 235–256

8. “On the meaning of ‘Hararim’,” Leshonenu 76 (2014), pp. 137-148 [=Hebrew]

9. “Ethics and Identity Formation: Resh Lakish and the monastic repentant robber,” in: L'identité à travers l'éthique: Nouvelles perspectives sur la formation des identités collectives dans le monde greco-romain, K. Berthelot, R. Naiweld, D. Stökl Ben Ezra (eds.), Turnhout, Brepols 2015, pp. 53-72

10. “Prayer in rabbinic and monastic literature,” in: Jewish Prayer: New Perspectives, Ben Gurion University Press 2016, pp. 63-77 [Hebrew]

11. "Iber, Ibur haDin and Parashat haIbur," Leshonenu 78 (2016), pp. 43-59 [=Hebrew]

12. Co-authored with Elitzur Bar-Asher Siegal, “‘Rejoice, O barren one who bore no child’: Beruria and the Jewish-Christian conversation in the Babylonian Talmud,” in: The Faces of Torah: Studies in the Texts and Contexts of Ancient Judaism in Honor of Steven Fraade, Christine Hayes, Tzvi Novick, and Michal Bar-Asher Siegal (eds.), Supplements to the Journal of Ancient Judaism, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2017, pp. 199-220.

13. "Moses in the Apophthegmata Patrum and rabbinic literature," in: Mosebilder Gedanken zur Rezeption einer literarischen Figur im Frühjudentum, frühen Christentum und der römischhellenistischen Literatur, Michael Sommer, Erik Eynikel, Veronika Niederhofer and Elisabeth Hernitscheck (eds.), Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament (=WUNT I) 390, Tübingen: Mohr Siebec 2017, pp. 403-414.

14. “Mishna Hagigah: Introduction and an English Translation and Annotation,” in: Oxford Annotated Mishnah, Hayim Lapin and Shaye Cohen (eds.), Oxford University Press (forthcoming)

15. "The Collection of Traditions in Monastic and Rabbinic Anthologies as a Reflection of Lived Religion," Religion in the Roman Empire 2 (2016), pp. 72-90

16. "Uncovering midrash: The Hebrew Slave in the Mekhilta deRabbi Ishmael," Journal of Jewish Studies 68 (2017), pp. 34-57

17. "Fool, look to the end of the verse': B. Ḥullin 87a and its Christian background," in: The Aggada of the Bavli and its Cultural World, Geoffrey Herman and Jeffrey L. Rubenstein (eds.), Providence, RI: Brown Judaic Studies, 2018, pp. 243-270

18. "Saying of the desert fathers, Sayings of the rabbinic fathers: Avot deRabbi Nattan and the Apophthegmata Patrum," Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum (ZAC) 20 (2016), pp. 211-227

19. "Judaism and Syriac Christianity," in: The Syriac World, Daniel King (ed.) New York: Routledge 2018, pp. 146-156.

20. ""The best of them is like a brier": On b. ‘Eruvin 101a and the Jewish-Christian dialogue in the Babylonian Talmud," in: Perceiving the Other in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, Matthew Thiessen, Wolfgang gruenstaeudl and Michal Bar-Asher Siegal (eds.), Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Series, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017, pp. 131-146

21. "Rabbinic Literature," in: A Companion to Jews and Judaism in the Late Ancient World: 3rd Century BCE - 7th Century CE (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World), Naomi Koltun-Fromm and Gwynn Kessler (eds.), New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell (forthcoming)

22. "Matthew 5:22: The insult "fool" and the interpretation of the law in Christian and rabbinic sources," Revue de l'Histoire des Religions 234 (2017), pp. 5-23

23. "Law Corpora Compared: Early Collections of Monastic Rules and Rabbinic Literature," in Law and Lawlessness in Early Judaism and Christianity, Charles Stang, David Lincicum and Ruth Sheridan (eds.), Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Series, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck (forthcoming)

24. Co-authored with Elitzur Bar-Asher Siegal, "The Hebrew-based traditions in Galatians 4:21-31," Early Christianity 9 (2018), pp. 404-431

25. "B. Ḥullin 87a and its Christian background," Sidra (forthcoming) [Hebrew]

26. "Minim stories and Jewish-Christian debates over Scripture: Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 102b," Jewish Studies Quarterly 25 (2018), pp. 1-18

27. Co-authored with Avi Shmidman, "Reconstruction of The Mekhilta Deuteronomy Using Philological and Computational Tools," Journal of Ancient Judaism 9 (2018), pp. 2-25

Entries in reference books

1. “Judah, Rabbi (HaNasi)”; “Eliezer ben Hyrcanus”; “Elisha ben Abuye,” in: Routledge Dictionary of Ancient Mediterranean Religions, Eric Orlin, Lisbeth Fried, Jennifer Knust, and Michael Satlow (eds.), New York: Routledge 2016

Magazine articles

1. "New Vistas in Jewish Studies: Rabbinics," AJS Perspectives: The Magazine of the Association for Jewish Studies (Fall 2018)

Work in progress

Books

1. Co-edited with Jonathan Ben Dov: Social History of the Jews within the Ancient World: Studies in Dialogue with Al Baumgarten's Work, under contract with Mohr Siebeck, to be included in the Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism series. expected completion summer 2019.

2. The lost midrash: Mekhilta Deuteronomy, expected date of completion 2020.

Articles

1. "Public confession in the Babylonian Talmud and in contemporary Christian sources" (completed and under review)

2. "Syriac monastic sources in the Babylonian Talmud: Heruta story re-considered," in: Judaism and Syriac Christianity: Identities and Intersections, Aaron Butts and Simcha Gross (eds.) (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck).

3. “Heresy and The Minim of the Babylonian Talmud,” (completed and under review)

4. "Anti- Familial Tendencies in monastic communities and Rabbinic sources" to appear in: Social History of the Jews within the Ancient World: Studies in Dialogue with Al Baumgarten's Work, Mohr Siebeck

5. "East and West in Rabbinic Literature: East meets West," in: The Literature of the Jewish People in the Period of the Second Temple and the Talmud (Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum (CRINT) series.), volume 3a: The Literature of the Sages, Christine Hayes (ed), Fortress Press

6. "What really happened when the sages assembled in the vineyard in Yavneh? A new look at tosfta Eduyot 1:1"

7. "Belt wearing in monastic and Talmudic sources"

8. " 'A cup of blessing' in Christian and rabbinic traditions"

Entries in Reference Books

1. "Tosefta," Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity

2. "Mocking of Jesus," Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception