Harris Lenowitz is a professor of Languages and Literature at the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
. He specializes in
Hebraic studies, particularly the writings of the 18th-century
Jewish messiah claimant
The messiah in Judaism means "anointed one" and included Jewish priests, prophets and kings such as David and Cyrus the Great. Later, especially after the failure of the Hasmonean Kingdom (37 BCE) and the Jewish–Roman wars (66–135 CE), ...
Jacob Frank
Jacob Joseph Frank ( he, יעקב פרנק; pl, Jakub Józef Frank; born Jakub Lejbowicz; 1726 – December 10, 1791) was a Polish Jews, Polish-Jewish religious leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of the self-proclaimed messiah Sabbata ...
and the use of
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 ...
in
Christian art
Christian art is sacred art which uses subjects, themes, and imagery from Christianity. Most Christian groups use or have used art to some extent, including early Christian art and architecture and Christian media.
Images of Jesus and narrative ...
in the West.
Education and career
In 1966 Lenowitz received his B.A. in English from the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
. He received his Ph.D. in Linguistics in 1971, also from the University of Texas at Austin. He remained at the university as a lecturer in 1971–1972. In 1972, he joined the faculty of the University of Utah as an assistant professor. He became an associate professor in 1976 and a full professor in 1989. Lenowitz has been a visiting professor at
Hebrew University
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
from 1980–1981; at
Portland State University
Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...
in the summers of 1976, 1980 and 1984; at the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
in the summer of 1987; and at the
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...
from 1995–1996. He received the PEN International Center Prize in Translation in 1978.
Works
Lenowitz edited, translated and annotated ''The Collection of the Words of the Lord'', a work originally written in
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
by
Jacob Frank
Jacob Joseph Frank ( he, יעקב פרנק; pl, Jakub Józef Frank; born Jakub Lejbowicz; 1726 – December 10, 1791) was a Polish Jews, Polish-Jewish religious leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of the self-proclaimed messiah Sabbata ...
; the translation is freely available online.
He has also translated ''The Sayings of the Lord Yakov Frank''. In addition, he is the author of ''The Jewish Messiahs: From the Galilee to Crown Heights'', which was reviewed in the ''
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company.
History
In May 1905, Amon G. Carter acc ...
'' and several scholarly journals.
''The Jewish Messiahs'' was described in the ''
Jewish Quarterly Review
''The Jewish Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering Jewish studies. It is published by the University of Pennsylvania Press on behalf of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies (University of Pen ...
'' as "the first text in English that focuses on primary texts relating to messianism as an active force in Jewish history"
and in the ''Sixteenth-Century Journal'' as "a different and thought-provoking context to messianism and the context of messiah."
Other works include seven additional volumes, approximately 20 scholarly articles, and 10 book chapters.
Lawsuit
Lenowitz formerly belonged to the governing committee of the University of Utah's Middle East Center, one of only a handful of such centers in the United States. Robert Newman, then the University of Utah's dean of humanities, removed him from the governing committee,
and in 2009 Lenowitz filed a lawsuit against Newman, claiming that Newman unfairly accused him of contributing to a hostile environment that had driven away several female faculty members. Lenowitz had previously denied Newman's claims, saying that the female faculty members had departed for better-paying jobs at other schools.
The lawsuit has been dismissed.
Lenowitz was set to retire in the summer of 2011.
See also
*
Sabbatai Zevi
Sabbatai Zevi (; August 1, 1626 – c. September 17, 1676), also spelled Shabbetai Ẓevi, Shabbeṯāy Ṣeḇī, Shabsai Tzvi, Sabbatai Zvi, and ''Sabetay Sevi'' in Turkish, was a Jewish mystic and ordained rabbi from Smyrna (now İzmir, Turk ...
*
Gershom Scholem
Gershom Scholem () (5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982), was a German-born Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kaballah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish Mystici ...
*
Frankism
Frankism was a heretical Sabbatean Jewish religious movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, centered on the leadership of the Jewish Messiah claimant Jacob Frank, who lived from 1726 to 1791. Frank rejected religious norms and said that his fol ...
References
;Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenowitz, Harris
Frankism
Jewish historians
Jewish American historians
Kabbalah
Living people
University of Utah faculty
University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)