Daniel Sperber (Hebrew: דניאל שפרבר) is a professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and an expert in classical philology, history of Jewish customs, Jewish art history, Jewish education and Talmudic studies.
Biography[]
Daniel Sperber was born on November 4, 1940 in Gwrych Castle, Wales. He studied for rabbinical ordination 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. [1] One of their daughters, Abigail, is the founder of Bat Kol, a Jewish religious lesbian group.[1]
Academic and rabbinical career[]
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 and has evolved. This includes a work in which he calls for a greater inclusion of women in certain ritual services. He is currently a professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and serves as rabbi of Menachem Zion Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Awards[]
in 1992, Sperber won the Israel Prize, for Jewish studies.[2]
Published work[]
- Minhagei Yisrael: Origins and History. Mossad Harav Kook, 1998-2007, 8 vol..
- Masekhet Derekh erets zuṭa u-Fereḳ ha-shalom (3rd Edition) [in Hebrew]. , 1994. OCLC 31267940
- Magic and Folklore in Rabbinic Literature, Bar-Ilan University Press, 1994. ISBN 9652261653
- Great is Peace, Jerusalem, 1979. OCLC 9368592
- Roman Palestine 200-400: Money and Prices, Bar-Ilan University Press, 1974; second edition with supplement 1991 . ISBN 9652261475
- Daniel Sperber (1978). Roman Palestine, 200-400, the land : crisis and change in agrarian society as reflected in rabbinic sources. Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University. OCLC 5222104.
- Daniel Sperber (1984). A dictionary of Greek and Latin legal terms in Rabbinic Literature. Ramat-Gan, Israel: Bar-Ilan University Press. ISBN 9652260509.
- Nautica Talmudica, Bar-Ilan University Press and E.J. Brill, 1986. ISBN 9004082492
- A Commentary on Derech Eretz Zuta Chapters 5-8, Bar-Ilan University Press, 1990. OCLC 10107498
- Sperber, Daniel (1998). The City in Roman Palestine. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0585254753.
- Essays on Greek and Latin in the Mishna, Talmud and midrashic 1982
- David Sperber (1992). Reʼayot ha-Reʼiyah : masot u-meḥḳarim be-torato shel ha-Rav Ḳuḳ. Yerushalayim: Bet ha-Rav. OCLC 34010082.
- Chana Sperber; Daniel Sperber; Jeffrey Allon (1995). Ten Best Jewish Children's Stories. New York: Pitspopany. ISBN 0943706580.
- Sperber, Daniel (1999). Why Jews Do What They Do. New York: Ktav Pub. House. ISBN 0881256048.
- 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 & Bar Ilan University
- The Path of Halacha, Women Reading the Torah: A Case of Pesika Policy, Rubin Mass, Jerusalem, 2007 (Hebrew)
- Daniel Sperber (2002). Resh Kalah u-mai ḥupah. Yerushalayim. OCLC 57331845.
See also[]
- Halakha
- Shira Hadasha
- Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance
- List of Israel Prize recipients
References[]
External sources[]
- Sherman Lectures, University of Manchester, 2004
- Sperber, D., "Congregational Dignity and Human Dignity: Women and Public Torah Reading” (pdf) Edah 3:2, 2002
- Bar-Ilan University Talmud Department
- Sperber, D. "'Friendly' Pesaq and the 'Friendly' Poseq" (pdf) Edah 5:2, 2006
- Edah, Daniel Sperber speaker information