Shaul Magid
Shaul Magid | |
---|---|
Born | June 16, 1958 |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | Goddard College, Hebrew University, Brandeis University |
Academic work | |
Sub-discipline | Jewish Studies |
Institutions | Rice University, Jewish Theological Seminary, Indiana University, Dartmouth College |
Website | https://faculty-directory.dartmouth.edu/shaul-magid |
Shaul Magid (born June 16, 1958[1]) is a Conservative rabbi who is the Distinguished Fellow in Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. From 2004 to 2018, he was a professor of religious studies and the Jay and Jeannie Schottenstein Chair of Jewish Studies in Modern Judaism at Indiana University as well as a senior research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute.[2] From 1996 to 2004, he was a professor of Jewish philosophy at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America; he was chair of the Department of Jewish Philosophy from 2000-2004.
Education
[edit]Magid received his B.A. from Goddard College. He received his semicha (rabbinical ordination) in Jerusalem in 1984 from Rabbis Chaim Brovender, Yaacov Warhaftig, and Zalman Nechemia Goldberg. He became a candidate Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute and a graduate student in Medieval and Modern Jewish Thought at Hebrew University, where he completed his MA in 1989. He obtained his Ph.D. in Jewish thought from Brandeis University in 1994.[3][4]
Career
[edit]Magid served as a visiting professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst, Clark University and Boston University. He was the Anna Smith Fine Chair in Jewish Thought at Rice University from 1994 to 1996 and then joined the faculty of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America before leaving for Indiana University.[5] In 2023-2024, Magid was a Visiting Professor of Modern Jewish Studies at the Harvard Divinity School.[6]
Major research grants include a 2015-2106 research fellowship at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at The University of Pennsylvania and 2017-2018 National Endowment for the Humanities, Senior Fellowship at the Center for Jewish History for a book project on "American Jewish Survivalism: Meir Kahane and the Politics of Pride."[7] He is an elected member of the American Academy of Jewish Research.
He has served as the rabbi of the Fire Island Synagogue since 1997.[8] He is a former contributing editor at Tablet Magazine and is the editor of Jewish Thought and Culture for Tikkun Magazine.
Magid's books include:
- Hasidism on the Margin: Reconciliation, Antinomianism, and Messianism in Izbica and Radzin Hasidism (University of Wisconsin Press, 2003),
- From Metaphysics to Midrash: Myth, History, and the Interpretation of Scripture in Lurianic Kabbala (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2008),
- American Post-Judaism: Identity and Renewal in a Postethnic Society (Indiana University Press, 2013),
- Hasidism Incarnate: Hasidism, Christianity, and the Construction of Modern Judaism (Stanford University Press, 2014),
- Piety and Rebellion: Essays in Hasidism (Academic Studies press, 2019) and
- The Bible, the Talmud, and the New Testament: Elijah Zvi Soloveitchik's Commentary to the New Testament (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019).
- Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical (Princeton University Press, 2021)
- The Necessity of Exile (Ayin Press, 2023)
His book From Metaphysics to Midrash was awarded the 2008 American Academy of Religion Award for best book in religion in the textual studies category.[9] He is the editor of God's Voice from the Void: Old and New Essays on Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav (SUNY Press, 2001) and co-editor of Beginning Again: Toward a Hermeneutic of Jewish Texts (Seven Bridges Press, 2002).[10] His essays have been published in Moment Magazine, Open Zion, Religion Dispatches, Tablet Magazine, Tikkun Magazine, and Zeek Magazine.
Following the publication of The Necessity of Exile, Magid became a prominent voice for American Jews who wish to rethink the place of Zionism in their Jewish identities, recentering Judaism over nationalism and calling for "a return to religion as 'always the thing that's going to keep us together.'"[11] In his review of The Necessity of Exile published in The Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs,[12] Michael Wegier, Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, wrote: "The author’s central argument revolves around the idea that for the State of Israel and the Palestinians to achieve any kind of ethically justifiable, long-term future, traditional notions of exile need to be deeply integrated into Israeli thought and practice. Whereas classical Zionism prioritized the negation of the Diaspora and sought to downplay or even neutralize the legitimacy of exilic existence, the realities of Israel, especially after 1967, have demonstrated this to be morally wrong, practically unsustainable, and theologically flawed. Magid posits that an alternative ideological force—“counter-Zionism”—needs to be adopted to help bring about a new model of Israel that embraces narratives other than those of classic liberal Zionism."
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Shaul_Magid_at_2024_Jews_and_Black_Theory_conference.png/220px-Shaul_Magid_at_2024_Jews_and_Black_Theory_conference.png)
In May 2024, Magid co-convened (with Terrence L. Johnson) an academic conference: "Jews and Black Theory: Conceptualizing Otherness in the Twenty-First Century." He gave opening remarks and chaired a session entitled, "Blackness, Whiteness, and Double Consciousness."[13]
Personal life
[edit]Magid grew up as a non-observant Jew in New York when, at the age of 20, he became interested in learning more about Judaism. He became involved with the Haredi movement and studied Modern Orthodoxy, but after several years he "...abandoned Orthodoxy more generally yet remained fascinated by, and deeply invested in, the complex nexus of Judaism and the American counter-culture".[14] He is often quoted on such issues in the popular press; for instance, he recently discussed Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead in relation to Judaism, speaking from the perspective of "an ordained rabbi and a professor of Jewish and religious studies at Indiana University who was also present for the Dead’s legendary performance on the grounds of Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey on Sept. 3, 1977."[15]
References
[edit]- ^ National Library of Israel authority file.
- ^ "Faculty - Shalom Hartman Institute". Retrieved August 1, 2017.
- ^ "Dr. Shaul Magid Bio". January 14, 2004. Archived from the original on February 7, 2011. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ^ "Shaul Magid Rabbi". 28 August 2020. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
- ^ "Shaul Magid: Faculty Profile, Borns Jewish Studies Program". Retrieved December 2, 2016.
- ^ "Shaul Magid". Harvard Divinity School. May 21, 2024.
- ^ "Center for Jewish History Fellows". Retrieved August 1, 2017.
- ^ "Fire Island Synagogue: Rabbi Shaul Magid". 28 August 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
- ^ "AAR Book Awards". Retrieved December 2, 2016.
- ^ "Shaul Magid: Faculty Profile, Borns Jewish Studies Program". Retrieved December 2, 2016.
- ^ Tracy, Marc (January 14, 2024). "Is Israel Part of What It Means to Be Jewish?". New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
- ^ Wegier, Michael (8 April 2024). "Review: The Necessity of Exile: Essays from a Distance". The Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs. 18 (1). doi:10.1080/23739770.2024.2334171 – via Taylor and Francis.
- ^ "Jews and Black Theory: Conceptualizing Otherness in the Twenty-First Century". Center for Jewish Studies. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
- ^ "Radical Banjo: About Shaul". Archived from the original on March 18, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
- ^ Rosen, Armin (August 1, 2017). "Happy Birthday, Jerry Garcia. We Love You. Here's Why". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
- 1958 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American academics
- 20th-century American historians
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century American non-fiction writers
- 20th-century American rabbis
- 21st-century American academics
- 21st-century American historians
- 21st-century American male writers
- 21st-century American non-fiction writers
- 21st-century American rabbis
- American Conservative rabbis
- American historians of religion
- American Jewish theologians
- American male non-fiction writers
- American religion academics
- Baalei teshuva
- Brandeis University alumni
- Clark University faculty
- Dartmouth College faculty
- Goddard College alumni
- Historians of Jews and Judaism
- Indiana University faculty
- Jewish American academics
- Jewish American historians
- Jewish American non-fiction writers
- Philosophers of Judaism
- Rice University faculty