 | Why Aren’t Jewish Women Circumcised?: Gender and Covenant in Judaism Subjects: Berit milah -- History; Circumcision -- Religious aspects -- Judaism; Women in rabbinical literature; Rabbinical literature -- History and criticism; Jews -- Identity; Why aren't Jewish women circumcised? This improbable question, first advanced by anti-Jewish Christian polemicists, is the point of departure for this wide-ranging exploration of gender and Jewishness in Jewish thought. With a lively command of a wide range of Jewish sources--from the Bible and the Talmud to the legal and philosophical writings of the Middle Ages to Enlightenment thinkers and modern scholars--Shaye J. D. Cohen considers the varied responses to this provocative question and in the process provides the fullest cultural history of Jewish circumcision available. Shaye J. D. Cohen received a B.A. in classics from Yeshiva College in 1970, a M.A. in Judaica and rabbinic ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary, and a second M.A. and a Ph.D. in ancient history at Columbia University. A director and professor of Judaic Studies at Brown University, he previously worked at the Jewish Theological Seminary as Dean of the Graduate School, and was a visiting Professor of History at Columbia University. Holding a keen interest in the history of Judaism and its social and legal boundaries, his published works include Josephus in Galilee and Rome: His Vita and Development as a Historian and From the Maccabees to the Mishnah: A Profile of Judaism. He has also written numerous articles and book chapters on the menstrual taboo in Judaism. He has received numerous honors, including the Faculty Fellow and Whiting Fellow from Columbia University, the Fellowship from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, and the Fellow of the American Academy for Jewish Research. (Bowker Author Biography) |
