Daniel Sperber (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: דניאל שפרבר) is a British-born Israeli academic and
centrist orthodox rabbi. He is a professor of
Talmud at
Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...
in
Israel, and an expert in
classical philology
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
, history of
Jewish customs, Jewish art history, Jewish education, and Talmudic studies.
Biography
Daniel Sperber was born on 4 November 1940, in
Gwrych Castle,
Wales. He studied for
rabbinical ordination
Semikhah ( he, סמיכה) is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination.
The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 42 ...
at
Yeshivat Kol Torah in Israel, earned a doctorate from
University College, London, in the departments of Ancient History and Hebrew Studies.
He is married to Phyllis (Hannah) Magnus, a couples therapist, originally of Highland Park, Illinois. They have ten children.
One of their daughters, Abigail, is the founder of
Bat Kol, an Israeli Jewish religious lesbian group.
Academic and rabbinical career
He is the Milan Roven professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, where he is also the President of the Ludwig and Erica Jesselson Institute for Advanced Torah Studies. He also served as rabbi of
Menachem Zion Synagogue in the
Old City of Jerusalem
The Old City of Jerusalem ( he, הָעִיר הָעַתִּיקָה, translit=ha-ir ha-atiqah; ar, البلدة القديمة, translit=al-Balda al-Qadimah; ) is a walled area in East Jerusalem.
The Old City is traditionally divided into ...
. In 2010, Sperber accepted an appointment as honorary Chancellor of the
non-denominational Canadian Yeshiva & Rabbinical School in Toronto.
Sperber is the author of ''Minhagei Yisrael: Origins and History'' on the character and evolution of
Jewish customs. He has written extensively on many issues regarding how Jewish law can evolve, and has evolved.
This includes a call for a greater inclusion of women in certain ritual services, including ordination.
He is also a critic of how certain
halachic
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
rules have become too strict in recent years. Regarding
kitniyot, he has said, "The attitude in the last few decades has changed and become stricter, to the point of absurdity", pointing out that non-kitniyot items have been added to the list, including "
cottonseed oil
Cottonseed oil is cooking oil from the seeds of cotton plants of various species, mainly ''Gossypium hirsutum'' and ''Gossypium herbaceum'', that are grown for cotton fiber, animal feed, and oil.
Cotton seed has a similar structure to other oil ...
,
sunflower oil
Sunflower oil is the non-volatile oil pressed from the seeds of the sunflower (''Helianthus annuus''). Sunflower oil is commonly used in food as a frying oil, and in cosmetic formulations as an emollient.
Sunflower oil is primarily composed ...
,
peanut oil, and even
hemp".
Sperber explains his rationale for allowing a greater role for women in Orthodox practice: "The first is that in the same way it is forbidden to permit that which is forbidden, it's also forbidden to forbid that which is permitted. The second is that it is not forbidden to permit that which is permitted, even if it wasn't practiced in the past, because halakha is dynamic, and when cultural circumstances change, one has to face up to these changes and accommodate them. The third principle is that if you can find a position of leniency, you should do so. So, when things are permitted, they should be encouraged."
He has received some criticism for not explaining the source of his personal authority to dislodge the views of prior voices in Jewish law, such as the Shulchan Aruch and the view of Maimonides, both of which are universally accepted in orthodox circles as the strongest, most authoritative halachic works.
Awards
In 1992, Sperber won the
Israel Prize, for Jewish studies.
Published work
Material Culture in Eretz Israel during the Talmudic Period, Vol. 1 Bar-Ilan University Press, 1993.
*''Minhagei Yisrael: Origins and History.'' Mossad Harav Kook, 1998–2007, 8 vol..
*''Masekhet Derekh erets zuṭa u-Fereḳ ha-shalom'' (3rd Edition)
n Hebrew
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
1994.
Magic and Folklore in Rabbinic Literature Bar-Ilan University Press, 1994.
* Great is Peace, Jerusalem, 1979.
Roman Palestine 200-400: Money and Prices Bar-Ilan University Press, 1974; second edition with supplement 1991 .
Nautica Talmudica Bar-Ilan University Press and
E.J. Brill, 1986.
A Commentary on Derech Eretz ZutaChapters 5-8, Bar-Ilan University Press, 1990.
*
* Essays on Greek and Latin in the Mishna, Talmud and midrashic 1982
*
*
*
* Nautica in Talmudic Palestine. Mediterranean History Review, vol. 15, 2001
* Paralysis in Contemporary Halakhah? Tradition 36:3 (Fall 2002), 1-13.
* Tarbut Homrit Be'eretz Yisrael Beyemai Hatalmud
Material Culture in Eretz-Israel during the Talmudic Period, Vol. 2, Yad
Yitzhak Ben Zvi
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi ( he, יִצְחָק בֶּן־צְבִי ''Yitshak Ben-Tsvi''; 24 November 188423 April 1963) was a historian, Labor Zionist leader and the longest-serving President of Israel.
Biography
Born in Poltava in the Russian Empire ...
& Bar Ilan University
* The Path of Halacha, Women Reading the Torah: A Case of Pesika Policy, Rubin Mass, Jerusalem, 2007 (Hebrew)
*
*
The Jewish Life Cycle: Custom, Lore and Iconography—Jewish Customs from the Cradle to the Grave(Oxford UP and Bar-Ilan UP, Aug. 2008)
* Why Jews Do What They Do: The History of Jewish Customs Throughout the Cycle of the Jewish Year by Daniel Sperber and Yaakov Elman, (KTAV, Jan 1999).
* Women and Men in Communal Prayer: Halakhic Perspectives by Rabbi Professor Daniel Sperber, Rabbi Mendel Shapiro, Professor Eliav Shochetman and Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin, (KTAV, 10 Mar 2010).
Greek in Talmudic Palestine Bar-Ilan University Press, 2012.
*Contributor to the
''Talmud El Am'' on ''Kiddushin''.
The Paths of Daniel: Studies in Judaism and Jewish Culture in Honor of Rabbi Professor Daniel SperberEdited By: Adam S. Ferziger, Bar-Ilan University Press, 2017.
See also
*
List of Israel Prize recipients
This is a complete list of recipients of the Israel Prize from the inception of the Prize in 1953 through to 2022.
List
For each year, the recipients are, in most instances, listed in the order in which they appear on the official Israel Prize w ...
References
External links
Erica and Ludwig Jesselson Institute for Advanced Torah Studies* Sperber, D.
"Congregational Dignity and Human Dignity: Women and Public Torah Reading"(pdf) Edah 3:2, 2002
* Sperber, D
"'Friendly' Pesaq and the 'Friendly' Poseq"(pdf) Edah 5:2, 2006
Daniel Sperber speaker information Edah
:''Edah, should not be confused with the Haredi communal body in Israel known as the Edah HaChareidis.''
Edah was a Modern Orthodox Jewish organization, generally associated with the liberal wing of Orthodox Judaism in the United States and with ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sperber, Daniel
1940 births
Living people
20th-century Israeli rabbis
21st-century Israeli rabbis
Alumni of University College London
Bar-Ilan University faculty
British emigrants to Israel
British Orthodox rabbis
Israeli art historians
Israeli Modern Orthodox rabbis
Israel Prize in Jewish studies recipients
Israel Prize Rabbi recipients
Jewish historians
Judaism and women
Open Orthodox Jews
Open University of Israel faculty
Talmudists