Curriculum Vitae 2020—Michael Carasik

Address: 734 Lombard St. Phone: (215) 266-0018 Philadelphia, Pa.. 19147 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: http://web.sas.upenn.edu/mcarasik/ Education B.A. New College, Sarasota, Fla. 1973 B.J.S., M.A.J.S Spertus College of Judaica, 1982, 1986 M.A., Ph.D. Brandeis University 1993, 1997

Dissertation: “Theologies of the Mind in Biblical Israel” (directed by Marc Brettler)

Teaching Experience 1991-94 Visiting lecturer in Classical Hebrew, Hebrew College, Brookline, Mass. 1993-94 Hebrew coordinator, Akiba Scholars Program and Kerem Program, Hebrew College 1993-98 Lecturer, Hebrew College (adult education; from ‘96 in Me’ah Program) 1998 Northeastern University, Boston 1999 Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Philadelphia 1999 University of Delaware 1999-2008 Gratz College, Philadelphia 2000- University of Pennsylvania 2005-06 Melton Program, Philadelphia 2005-14, ‘18 Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Philadelphia 2009-10 Me’ah/ConText programs, Philadelphia 2015-16 St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia

Other Current Activities 2008- “Torah Talk” podcast 2009- weekday Torah reader, Historic Congregation Kesher Israel, Philadelphia 2015 “The Bible’s Many Voices” companion podcast 2017- Faculty Working Group, Recovered Language Pedagogies (Penn School of Arts & Sciences)

Books The Solomon Goldman Lectures, vol. 5 (Chicago: Spertus Press, 1988), with Byron L. Sherwin (edited volume) The Commentators’ Bible: Exodus, The JPS Miqra’ot Gedolot (Jewish Publication Society, 2005) Theologies of the Mind in Biblical Israel (Peter Lang, 2006) The Commentators’ Bible: Leviticus, The JPS Miqra’ot Gedolot (Jewish Publication Society, 2009) The Commentators’ Bible: Numbers, The JPS Miqra’ot Gedolot (Jewish Publication Society, 2011) The Bible’s Many Voices (Jewish Publication Society/University of Press, 2014) The Commentators’ Bible: Deuteronomy, The JPS Miqra’ot Gedolot (JPS/University of Nebraska Press, 2015) The Commentators’ Bible: Genesis, The JPS Miqra’ot Gedolot (JPS/University of Nebraska Press, 2018)

Life-Long Learning Biblical Hebrew: Learning a Sacred Language, The Great Courses (2018)

Published Articles “Who Were the ‘Men of Hezekiah’? (Prov. xxv, 1),” Vetus Testamentum 44 (1994): 289-300 “Ruth 2,7: Why the Overseer Was Embarrassed,” ZAW 107 (1995): 493-494 “Response to Aryeh Cohen,” Textual Reasoning 6 (1996) “To See a Sound: A Deuteronomic Re-reading of Exodus 20:15,” Prooftexts 19 (1999): 257-265 “The Limits of Omniscience,” Journal of Biblical Literature 119 (2000): 221-232 “Exegetical Implications of the Masoretic Cantillation Marks in Ecclesiastes,” Hebrew Studies 42 (2001): 145-165 “Three Biblical Beginnings,” in Beginning/Again: Towards a Hermeneutic of Jewish Texts, ed. Aryeh Cohen and Shaul Magid (: Seven Bridges Press, 2002), 1-22 “Midrash: The Story Behind the Story,” in The Solomon Goldman Lectures, vol. 8, ed. Dean Bell (Chicago: Spertus Press, 2003), 33-49 “Qohelet’s Twists and Turns,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 28 (2003): 192-209 “Transcending the Boundary of Death: Ecclesiastes through a Nabokovian Lens,” Biblical Interpretation 14 (2006): 425-443 “A Deuteronomic Voice in the Joseph Story,” in Mishneh Todah: Studies in Deuteronomy and its Cultural Environment in honor of Jeffrey H. Tigay, ed. Nili Sacher Fox et al. (Winona Lake, Ind. : Eisenbrauns, 2009), 3-14 “Syntactic Double Translation in the Targumim,” in Aramaic Studies in Judaism and Early Christianity, ed. Eric M. Meyers and Paul V. M. Flesher (Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 2010), 217-231 “Why Did Hannah Ask for ‘Seed of Men’?” Journal of Biblical Literature 129 (2010): 433-436 “Janus Parallelism in Job 1:20,” Vetus Testamentum 66 (2016): 149-154

Published Reviews William P. Brown, Character in Crisis, Hebrew Studies 38 (1997): 162-65 Roland Murphy, The Book of Job: A Short Reading, Review of Biblical Literature [http://www.bookreviews.org/pdf/628_758.pdf] (2000) Yairah Amit, Shoftim, Hebrew Studies 41 (2000): 283-86 Michael Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther, Shofar 21 (2003): 138-39 Baruch Halpern, David’s Secret Demons: Messiah Murderer Traitor King, Review of Biblical Literature [http://www.bookreviews.org/pdf/1551_3721.pdf] Duck-Woo Nam, Talking About God: Job 42:7-9 and the Nature of God in the Book of Job, Journal of Hebrew Scriptures [http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/reviews/review144.htm]; Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures 2:630-633 Annette Schellenberg, Erkenntnis als Problem: Qohelet und die alttestamentlichen Diskussion um das menschliche Erkennen, Bibliotheca Orientalis 61 (2004): 608-611 Alfredo Fabio Borodowski, Isaac Abravanel on Miracles, Creation, Prophecy and Evil: The Tension Between Medieval Jewish Philosophy and Biblical Commentary, Journal of Hebrew Scriptures [http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/reviews/review179.htm]; Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures 2:534-537 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs (NICOT, 2 volumes), Journal of Hebrew Scriptures [http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/reviews/review231.htm] Maxwell Miller and John H. Hayes, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah, Journal of Hebrew Scriptures [http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/reviews/review284.htm] Mark Leuchter, The Polemics of Exile in Jeremiah 26-45, H-Net Reviews [http://www.h- net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=23606] Peter J. Leithart, Solomon among the Postmoderns, Toronto Journal of Theology 24 (2008): 263-265 Joel M. Hoffman. And God Said: How Translations Conceal the Bible’s Original Meaning, Shofar 30 (2012):148- 150 Alan F. Segal, Sinning in the Hebrew Bible: How The Worst Stories Speak for Its Truth, H-Judaic, H-Net Reviews. November, 2012: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=36828 Yair Zakovitch and Avigdor Shinan, From Gods to God: How the Bible Debunked, Suppressed, or Changed Ancient Myths and Legends, H-Judaic, H-Net Reviews. November, 2013: https://www.h- net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=39550 Marvin A. Sweeney, The Pentateuch (Core Biblical Studies), Hebrew Higher Education 20 (2018):233-236 Galia Hatav, The Semantics-Pragmatics Interface of the Biblical Hebrew Verb Forms (JSSS 42), Hebrew Higher Education 22 (2020) James S. Diamond, Scribal Secrets: Extraordinary Texts in the Torah and Their Implications, Review of Biblical Literature, February, 2020 [https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=13074] Alexander Rofé, The Religion of Israel and the Text of the Hebrew Bible: Corrections in the Biblical Texts in the Light of the History of the Religion of Israel [Hebrew], March, 2020 [https://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=13020]

Reference Articles Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion, ed. Adele Berlin and Maxine Grossman, “Miqra’ot Gedolot” (2011) Cambridge Dictionary of Judaism and Jewish Culture, ed. Judith Baskin: “Bible: Wisdom Literature,” “Ecclesiastes,” “Job,” “Proverbs” (2011) “Sexual Harassment in the Book of Ruth,” Bible Odyssey [http://www.bibleodyssey.org/people/related- articles/sexual-harassment-in-the-book-of-ruth.aspx]

Popular Articles “Isolating a Contemporary Issue in the Bible,” Brandeis Review, Fall 1993 “Can God Read Minds?” Bible Review, June 2002 “Translator, Commentator, Writer,” Sh’ma, December 2008 “Notes from the Field: The Commentators’ Bible,” Iggeret 83, Fall 2011 “Experiencing Moments of Torah Mi-Sinai,” http://thetorah.com/experiencing-moments-of-torah-mi-sinai/ -http://thetorah.com/in ”,’( בכ ו ד ) and ‘Presence ’( םש ) In the Presence of God: The Difference between God’s ‘Name“ the-presence-of-god/ “Joseph Enslaves the Egyptians,” https://www.929.org.il/lang/en/author/38066/post/40220

Published Translations “Possessions” (a play), by A. B. Yehoshua, Formations 4 (1987) “Women as Creators of Biblical Genres,” by S. D. Goitein, Prooftexts 8 (1988) “The Missing Synopsis to Gersonides’ Commentary on Job (MS Paris 251) in Light of the Development and Sources of His Exegesis,” by Yechiel Tzeitkin, Hebrew Union College Annual 86 (2015):101-139 “Synopsis of Gersonides' Commentary on Job: MS Paris 251 (4276, 86b–96a),” Hebrew Union College Annual 86 (2015):163-194 “Philo’s Threefold Divine Vision and the Christian Trinity,” by Elad Filler, Hebrew Union College Annual 87 (2016):93-113

Previous Positions 1989-1993 Adminstrative asst., National Hebrew Proficiency Guidelines Committee 1997-2000 Contributing editor (Bible), Textual Reasoning 1997-2003 Member, SBL Wisdom section steering committee 2000-01 Vice-president, Center City (Philadelphia) Kehillah 2000-13 Darshan, Gershman Y Congregation, Philadelphia 2001-02 Adjunct fellow, Center for Jewish Studies, U. of Pennsylvania 2003-07 Vice-president, Center City Eruv Corporation 2005-07 President, Center City Kehillah 2011-13 columnist, Jewish Ideas Daily

Post-Doctoral Study Hebrew University Institute for Advanced Studies, Summer School in Jewish Studies, 1997, 1999 Duke University, NEH Summer Seminar, “Aramaic in Post-Biblical Judaism and Early Christianity,” 2004 Shalom Spiegel Institute Summer Seminar in Medieval Hebrew Literature, 2019

Public presentations* *Talks and classes given at Philadelphia-area synagogues are too numerous to list. May 5-7, 2006 – Dallas, Texas: Cong. Shearith Israel and Beyt Midrash of Dallas Jan. 23, 2007 – : 92nd St. Y June 14, 2007 – Philadelphia: Judaica SIG of American Theological Library Association Nov. 16, 2008 – Wilmington, Delaware: Delaware Valley Chorale Apr. 24, 2014 – New York City, Temple Emanu-el Skirball Center Oct. 22-24, 2015 – Mount Zion Temple, St Paul, (scholar-in-residence) Oct. 6, 2016 – Cong. Or Zarua, New York City Dec. 4, 2016 – Limmud, Philadelphia Oct. 21-23, 2018 – New Jersey West Hudson Valley Area Region of Reform Rabbis, Cape May, N.J. May 3-5, 2019 – Congregation Agudath Israel, West Caldwell, N.J. Aug. 30-Sept. 1, 2019 – Renaissance Weekend, Jackson Hole, Wyoming Feb. 20, 2020 – Neustadt Lecturer at the Wimberly School of Religion (Oklahoma City University) and Temple B’Nai Israel in Oklahoma City

Podcast/Broadcast/Internet “The Limits of Omniscience” – God is Open podcast, posted May 7, 2016 – https://godisopen.com/2016/05/07/podcast-ep123-michael-carasik-on-the-limits-of-omniscience/ “Medieval Jewish Commentary” – Onscript podcast, posted Feb. 12, 2019 – https://onscript.study/podcast/michael-carasik-ancient-jewish-commentary/