Professor

Education

• Ph.D., Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, 1999-2002
• D.E.A., Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes en Sorbonne, Paris, 1998-1999
• Licence de Théologie, Institut Catholique de Paris, 1994-1998
• Rabbinics, Yeshivat ha-Kibbutz ha-Dati, Ein Tzurim, 1990-1993

WHO AM I IN SHORT

• I am a historian of religions, having a particular focus on the study of beliefs and practices of lay Jews and Christians from various periods. I am, correctly or not, a strong believer in the many intellectual and scholarly benefits of studying more than one religious culture, whether a comparison is intended or not.
• If you want to know more about me, a lot more in fact, go here. For a CV, click here.

Research Interests

• Rabbinics
• Contemporary Catholicism
• Social History of Jews and Christians in Medieval Europe

MOST IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENT (BY FAR)

Father of the best two kids ever!!!!!

• Fellow, Frankel Institute for Judaic Studies, University of Michigan, Winter 2014
• Starr Fellow, Center for Jewish Studies, Harvard University, Spring 2008
• Carey Postdoctoral Fellow, Erasmus Institute, University of Notre Dame, 2006-2007
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Tel Aviv University, 2004-2006

Courses I HAPPEN TO TEACH

• FREN 308       Religion in France and in the Francophone World (in French, syllabus)
• RELI 088        Religion and Society in Historical Novels (introductory video)
• RELI 108        Traditional Jewish Literature (poster from 2020)
• RELI 162        Catholicism Today: An Introduction to the Contemporary Catholic Church (+ Online version) (introductory video)
• RELI 270        Religion In Western Europe (cross-listing: EURO 270) (poster from 2020)
• RELI 450        Sexuality & Marriage in Jewish Tradition & History
• RELI 525        Medieval Jewish Bible Interpretation
• RELI 566        Jewish Legal Literature
• RELI 566x      Islamic and Jewish Legal Literature (with Ahmed El Shamsy, poster)
• RELI 662        Advanced Seminar in Contemporary Catholicism
• RELI 697        Religion and Law (poster from 2019)

SOME PublicationS

Books

Traditional Jewish Sex Guidance: A History, Brill, Leiden 2022

Religion in England from Prehistoric Times to the Early 1980s: With a special emphasis, when relevant, on Catholicism, and the country’s North East, Independently published / KDP, 2021

Sting and Religion: The Catholic-Shaped Imagination of a Rock Icon, Cascade Books / Wipf & Stock, Oregon 2021

Catholicism Today: An Introduction to the Contemporary Catholic Church, Routledge, New York 2014

La Baraita de-Niddah : Un texte juif pseudo-talmudique sur les lois religieuses relatives à la menstruation (The Baraita de-Niddah: a Pseudo-Talmudic Jewish Text about the Religious Laws Concerning Menstruation), Brepols, Turnhout 2012

Catholicism Now: An Introduction to the Contemporary Catholic Church (Hebrew), Carmel, Jerusalem 2010

Niddah. Lorsque les juifs conceptualisent la menstruation (Niddah: When Jews Conceptualise Menstruation), Les Belles Lettres, Paris 2003

Selected Articles

“Traditional Sexual Instruction“, in: Sex: Jewish Positions, edited by Miriam Goldmann, Joanne Rosenthal, and Titia Zoeter, Joods Museum / Jüdisches Museum Berlin, Hirmer, Munich 2024, pp. 21-25 (German translation)

“‘It Is Certainly Forbidden to Force Her’: Marital Relations in the Nineteenth Century Kitzur Shulhan Arukh“, Review of Rabbinic Judaism 26 (2023), pp. 262-288

“Menstruation – Post-Biblical (Rabbanite) Judaism“, in: Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, Vol. 18, De Gruyter, Berlin – Boston 2020, pp. 665-672

“O My God: Religion in Sting’s Early Lyrics“, The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 31.3 (2019), pp. 223-235 (with an introductory blog here).

“Educating American Modern Orthodox Children About Sex: Guides for Parents, Guides for Pupils“, G’vanim 10 (2019), pp. 35-49

“‘Close Your Eyes and Think of These Four’: Correct Thoughts During Sex According to an Important 12th Century Provençal Jewish Author“, The Medieval Magazine 121 (February 2019), pp. 70-79

“The 19th-Century Kitzur Shulhan Arukh: The Story of a Classic Manual of Jewish Law“, Religion Compass 13.2 (2019), pp. 1-9

“Bible, Religion, and Catholicism in Sting’s album and musical The Last Ship“, Studies in Musical Theatre 12.3 (2018), pp. 319-335

“Death, Resurrection, Sacraments, and Myths: Religion Around Sting“, in: Cultural Icons and Cultural Leadership, Edited by Peter Iver Kaufman and Kristin M. S. Bezio, Edward Elgar Publishing, UK and Northampton MA, 2017, pp. 167-185

“Jews, Jesus, and Menstrual Blood“, Transversal: Journal for Jewish Studies 14 (2016), pp. 1-10

“Female Fertility in Talmudic Literature” (Hebrew), Hebrew Union College Annual 86-87 (2015-2016), pp. 47-94

“Women, Men, and Cold Water: The Debate over the Heating of Jewish Ritual Baths from the Middle Ages to Our Own Time” (Hebrew), Jewish Studies: An Internet Journal 12 (2013), pp. 1-37

“Traditional Jewish Sexual Practices and Their Possible Impact on Jewish Fertility and Demography“, Harvard Theological Review 106:3 (2013), pp. 243-286

“La Halakhah. Observée ou ignorée ? Unificatrice ou séparatrice ?” (The Halakhah : Observed, or Ignored? Unifying, or Separating?), Tsafon 65 (2013), pp. 63-71

“Aufklärung als innerjüdische Herausforderung: Rabbi Moses Schreiber, ‘häretische jüdische Doktoren’, und Ritualbäder” (Enlightenment as Inner-Jewish Challenge: Rabbi Moses Schreiber, ‘Heretic Jewish Physicians‘, and Ritual Bathing), DAVID – Jüdische Kulturzeitschrift 94 (Fall 2012), pp. 68-71

“Qui coierit cum muliere in fluxu menstruo… interficientur ambo (Lev. 20:18) – The Biblical Prohibition of Sexual Relations with a Menstruant in the Eyes of Some Medieval Christian Theologians“, in: Shoshannat Yaakov: Jewish and Iranian Studies in Honor of Yaakov Elman, Edited by Shai Secunda and Steven Fine, Brill, Leiden 2012, pp. 271-284

“The Stealing of the ‘Apple of Eve’ from the 13th century Synagogue of Winchester”, in: Henri III Fine Rolls Project, Fine of the Month: December 2011 (With David Carpenter)

“Jews Have the Best Sex: The Hollywood Adventures of a Peculiar Medieval Jewish Text on Sexuality“, Journal of Religion and Film 14:2 (2010)

“The Second Council of the Vatican: Current Debates” (Hebrew), Zmanim 101 (2008), pp. 28-41

“Menstruation in Sacred Spaces: Medieval and Early-Modern Jewish Women in the Synagogue“, Nordisk Judaistik 25:1 (2004), pp. 7-16

A talk by someone else presenting my work

Avi Harari, “Heating the Water in the Mikveh“, September 5, 2021 (Audio, a rabbinic class in a synagogue)

EXAMPLES OF TALKS OR INTERVIEWS THAT WERE UNFORTUNATELY RECORDED

“La sexualité matrimoniale dans le droit rabbinique“, A presentation of my book “Traditional Jewish Sex Guidance: A History” (Brill, 2022), Université Paris II, Paris, March 25, 2024 (Video, in French)

“Human sexuality: the ancient Jewish perspective“, Recovering Evangelicals, Episode 118, May 19, 2023 (Podcast/Audio)

“Sting and Religion: Interview by Prof. Todd Ochoa“, UNC Chapel Hill, April 2022 (Video)

“Old religions, new rituals” (on Covid-19 and religious practices), Interview by Scott Jared, The Well, UNC, January 2022 (Article)

“What is Niddah? Menstruation in Judaism”, Polin: Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw, November 23, 2017 (Video)

“Marital Sexuality in Contemporary Modern Orthodox Manuals“, Paris, July 2014 (Slides with audio)

“Traditional Jewish Sexual Guidance Through History“, The Frankel Institute for Judaic Studies, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, January 23, 2014 (Video)

“Une société unifiée par sa Loi : imaginaire et réalité“, Alliance Israélite Universelle, Paris, February 14, 2010 (Video, in French)

Radio interview about my second book, “Catholicism Today”, Reshet Aleph, Tel Aviv 2005 (Audio, in Hebrew)

Radio interview about my first book, “Niddah”, Radio J, Paris 2004 (Audio, in French)