Shaye J. D. Cohen (born October 21, 1948) is a modern scholar of

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Hebrew Literature Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews. Hebrew literature was p ...

and

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

Background and career

He received his undergraduate degree from

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universi ...

, his M.A. from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. in

Ancient History Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

, with distinction, from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1975. Cohen is an ordained Conservative

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

and for many years was the Dean of the Graduate School and Shenkman Professor of

Jewish History Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions, and cultures. Although Judaism as a religion first appears in Greek records during the Hellenisti ...

at the Jewish Theological Seminary in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Before arriving at Harvard in July 2001, he was for ten years the Samuel Ungerleider Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. The focus of Cohen's research is the boundary between

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and

gentile Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym fo ...

s and between Judaism and its surrounding culture. He is also a published authority on Jewish reactions to Hellenism and to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

. Cohen has received several honors for his work, including an honorary doctorate from the Jewish Theological Seminary and various fellowships. He has been honored by appointment as Croghan Distinguished Visiting Professor of Religion (

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...

), the Louis Jacobs Lecturer (

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

), the David M. Lewis Lecturer (

), Lady Davis Fellowship (Visiting Professor) of Jewish History (

Hebrew University of Jerusalem 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 ...

), the Block Lecturer (

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

), the Roland Visiting Lecturer (

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

) and the Pritchett Lecturer (

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

). He appeared on a ''Nova (American TV program), Nova'' episode as an expert on Jewish history. He also appears in PBS's Jesus to Christ Documentary. Cohen has published many essays, co-authored many books, and written a number of books individually, including: ''Josephus in Galilee and Rome: His Vita and Development As a Historian'' (1979), ''From the Maccabees to the Mishnah'' (1988), ''The Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties'' (2001), ''Why Aren't Jewish Women Circumcised?: Gender and Covenant in Judaism'' (2005), and ''The Significance of Yavneh and Other Essays in Jewish Hellenism'' (2010).

Published works

*Cohen, Shaye J. D., ''Josephus in Galilee and Rome: His Vita and Development As a Historian'', Brill Academic Publishers, 2002. *Cohen, Shaye J. D., ''From the Maccabees to the Mishnah'', Westminster John Knox Press, 1988. *Cohen, Shaye J. D. ''The Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties'', University of California Press, 2001. *Cohen, Shaye J. D. ''Why Aren't Jewish Women Circumcised?: Gender and Covenant in Judaism'', University of California Press, 2005. *Cohen, Shaye J. D. ''The Significance of Yavneh and Other Essays in Jewish Hellenism'', Mohr Siebeck, 2010.

Awards

* 2006: National Jewish Book Award in the Women's Studies category for ''Why Aren't Jewish Women Circumcised?: Gender and Covenant in Judaism''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Shaye J. D. 1948 births Living people American Conservative rabbis Jewish American historians American male non-fiction writers Jewish Theological Seminary of America semikhah recipients Columbia University alumni Harvard University faculty 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Historians of Jews and Judaism American historians of religion Brown University faculty 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American rabbis