Stefan Clive Reif (born 21 January 1944) is professor emeritus at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. He has a PhD from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

and a Doctor of Literature from Cambridge.

Education

Stefan Reif graduated at the University of London with first class honours in Hebrew and Aramaic (1964) and obtained his Ph.D. at Jews’ College and at University College London (1969) for an edition of a seventeenth-century Hebrew liturgical manuscript. He was awarded the William Lincoln Shelley Studentship (1967).

Academic positions

* 1968–1973 Various academic posts at the University of Glasgow and at Dropsie College (Philadelphia) * Fellow of St. John's College * Professor of Medieval

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 ...

, Faculty of Oriental Studies * Founder Director (1973–2006) of the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit (researching manuscripts from the

Cairo Geniza The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the '' genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat or Old Cairo, Eg ...

) * 1989, 1996–97 Visiting Professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem * 2001 Visiting Professor at the Center for Jewish Studies, University of Pennsylvania * 2004 Visiting Professor at George Washington University in 2004 Former Head of the Oriental Division of the

University Library An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution and serves two complementary purposes: to support the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown how many academic librar ...

Career highlights

The University Library established the Genizah Research Unit in 1974 and Reif directed it until retirement in 2006. He was elected to a personal chair in medieval Hebrew studies and to a fellowship at St John's College at the University of Cambridge in 1998, and obtained the Litt.D. there in 2002. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Haifa in 2014 for his Genizah work, his research into Jewish liturgy and his encouragement of young scholars. He has written or edited fifteen volumes, as well as almost four hundred articles and reviews, and organized various international conferences. Among his most important studies are ''Shabbethai Sofer and his Prayer-book'' (1979), ''Judaism and Hebrew Prayer'' (1993), ''Hebrew Manuscripts at Cambridge University Library'' (1997), ''A Jewish Archive from Old Cairo'' (2000), ''Why Medieval Hebrew Studies?'' (2001), ''Problems with Prayers'' (2006) and ''Jewish Prayer Texts from the Cairo Genizah'' (2015–16).

Other activities

Reif was president of the Hebraica Libraries’ Group (1981–1984); the Jewish Historical Society of England (1991–1992); the British Association for Jewish Studies (1992); the Cambridge Theological Society (2002–2004); and the National Council on Orientalist Library Resources, (2004-2005). He is a trustee of the Cambridge Traditional Jewish Congregation and a senior academic consultant to the Universities of Haifa and Tel Aviv in Israel. He is on the International Advisory Committees of the ISDCL and of the periodical Ginzei Qedem, and is an Honorary Fellow of the Mekize Nirdamim Society for the Publication of Ancient Hebrew Manuscripts. Reif is a popular lecturer and has addressed many audiences in Europe, Israel, the United States and Canada. He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to scholarship.

References

External links