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Syracuse University |
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Zachary Braiterman |
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Ph.D. Stanford University |
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A member of the faculty of Religion and Judaic Studies at Syracuse University since 1997, Zachary Braiterman teaches modern Jewish thought, continental philosophy and religion, art and aesthetics. Braiterman‘s interest in modern Jewish philosophy stems from his concern and intrigue with the problem of evil, primarily with the horrors of the Holocaust. Although he specializes in Jewish thought of the 19th and 20th centuries, Braiterman is also well-versed in the Bible, Talmud, medieval philosophy/theology and mysticism. What has most fascinated Braiterman within the past ten years, however, has been in regard to religion, art and aesthetics, the product of which is documented in his most recent book, The Shape of Revelation: Aesthetics and Modern Jewish Thought. This turn in interest, according to Braiterman, has not so much replaced his old areas of study, but has instead, re-shaped and enriched them: “art invigorates religion. It allows me to hear and see religion, things that I did not know to listen or look for.” This is because art gives “bodies” to religious figures within literature, which aids the curious reader in formulating images that are helpful in articulating religious thought. The book focuses upon the theoretical inquiry about themes and figures of revelation in Jewish thought and explains how German expressionism articulates such themes. Braiterman is currently teaching courses on Judaism and a seminar on modern Jewish thought and the liberal state, the focus of yet another upcoming scholarly project. In the spring, Braiterman will teach a course in concordance with his most recent book on art and aesthetics, which he hopes will attract a wide variety of students.
Courses:
Judaism Modern Jewish Thought Religion and Art
Teaching:
Associate Professor, Department of Religion, Syracuse University, Fall 2003 Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Syracuse University, 1997-2002 Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Pennsylvania, spring 2001 Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Rice University, 1996-1997 Adjunct Lecturer, The University of Judaism, 1995 Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Religious Studies, Santa Clara University, 1994-1995
Books:
The Shape of Revelation: Aesthetics and Modern Jewish Thought (Stanford University Press), 2007 (God) After Aushwitz: Tradition and Change in Post-Holocaust Jewish Thought, (Princeton University Press), 1998 The Place of Religion and Modern Society: Liberal Judaism, Ceremonial Performance, and Spatial Aesthetics (in progress) “Architectures” of Judaism (in progress)
Articles:
“After Negative Theology and Ethics: Anthropomorphism and the Architectural Imagination” for a book edited by Lissa McCullough on Radical Theology (forthcoming) “Maimonides and the Visual Image after Kant and Cohen” in an edited volume by Hartwig Wiedeback collecting the proceedings from the 2004 conference on “Kant and Maimonides: In Commemoration of the 800 Years Since Their Respective Deaths,” sponsored by the Hermann Cohen Gesellschaft in cooperation with the Academy for Jewish Philosophy (forthcoming) “Martin Buber and the Art of Ritual” in Michael Zank (ed.), Martin Buber: New Perspectives/Neue Perspektiven Tübingen: Mohr/Siebeck (16 ms. pp) (forthcoming) Contributions on “Jewish Philosophy,” “Martin Buber,” “Franz Rosenzweig,” and “Anti-theodicy” for A Dictionary of Continental Philosophy, Yale University Press, (11 ms. pp.) (forthcoming) “Stretched Flesh-Space: Temple, Talmud, and Merleau-Ponty” for a special edition of Philosophy Today edited by Claire Katz (in press) “A Modern Mitzvah-Space-Aesthetic” in an edited volume by Barbara Kirschenblatt-Gimblet and Jonathan Carp, collecting the proceedings from the 2001 symposium at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania, (26 ms. pp.) (in press) “Aesthetics and Judaism, Art and Revelation” in Jewish Studies Quarterly, (11:4), 366-85 (2004) “Against Leo Strauss” in The Journal of the Society for Textual Reasoning, (online) (3:1). (15 ms. pp.), 2004 “’Elu ve-Elu’: Reading (the) Difference (between) Rabbinic Textuality (and) Postmodern Philosophy” in Textualities: Rabbinic Study and Postmodern Jewish Philosophy, edited by Peter Ochs and Nancy Levene, SCM Press, 206-13, 2002. "Cyclical Motions and the Force of Repetition in the Thought of Franz Rosenzweig" in Aryeh Cohen and Shaul Magid (eds.), Beginning a Reading/Reading Beginnings: Towards a Hermeneutic of Jewish Texts, Seven Bridges Press, 215-38, 2002. Response to Peter Ochs, “Behind the Mechitza: Reflections on the Rules of Textual Reasoning, in The Journal of Textual Reasoning 1:1, (online), (4 ms. pp, single space), 2002 Response to Marc Bregman, “AQEDAH: Midrash as Visualization” in Textual Reasoning: A Journal of the Postmodern Jewish Philosophy Network vol. 10 (online), (3 ms pp, single space.) , 2001 "Joseph Soloveitchik and Immanuel Kant's Mitzvah-Aesthetic," AJS Review, 25:1, 1-24, 2000/01 “Against Holocaust-Sublime: Naive Reference and the Generation of Memory," History and Memory, 12:2, 7-28, 2000 "Der Ästhet Franz Rosenzweig: Beautiful Form and Religious Thought," Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy, vol.10, 145-69, 2000 "Response to Jacob Neusner," in Religious Education, 95:1, 105-6, winter 2000 "Teaching Jewish Studies in a Radically Gentile Space: Some Personal Reflections," Religious Education, 94:4, 396-409, fall 1999 "`Into Life'? Franz Rosenzweig and the Figure of Death" in AJS Review 23:2, 203-221, fall 1998 "Fideism Redux: Emil Fackenheim and The State of Israel" in Jewish SocialStudies 4:1, 105-120, fall 1997 "`Hitler's Accomplice'?! The Tragic Theology of Richard Rubenstein" in Modern Judaism 17, 75-89, fall 1997 "Anti/theodic Faith in the Thought of Eliezer Berkovits" in Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 7:1, 83-100, fall 1997
Reviews:
Review of Peter Eli Gordon, Rosenzweig and Heidegger: Between Judaism and German Philosophy in AJS Review, 29:2, 405-7, Nov. 2005 Review of Norbert Samuelson, Revelation and the God of Israel in Jewish Quarterly Review, (95:4), 768-70, fall 2005 Review of Leora Batnitzky, Idolatry and Representation: The Philosophy of Franz Rosenzweig Reconsidered in AJS Review, 27:1, 165-7, April 2003 Review of Irving Greenberg, Living in the Image of God in Conservative Judaism, 52:3, pp.89-91, spring 2000 Review of Yudit Kornberg Greenberg, Better than Wine: Love, Poetry, and Prayer in the Thought of Franz Rosenzweig in Textual Reasoning: Journal of the Postmodern Jewish Philosophy Network, 7:3, fall 1998
Booknotes:
Note on Kalman Bland, The Artless Jew: Medieval and Modern Affirmations and Denials of the Visual for Religious Studies Review, 27:4, 109, Oct. 2001 Note on Vivian Mann (ed.), Jewish Texts on the Visual Arts for Religious Studies Review , 27:4, 109, Oct. 2001 Note on Eleonore Lappin, Der Jude 1916-1928 in Religious Studies Review, 27:3, 306, July 2001 Note on Cordula Hufnagel, Die kultische Gebärde: Kunst, Politik, Religion im Denken Franz Rosenzweigs in Religious Studies Review, 27:3, 306, July 2001 Note on Noah Isenberg, Between Redemption and Doom: The Strains of German-Jewish Modernism in Religious Studies Review, 26:4, 391, October 2000 Note on Ernest Rubinstein, An Episode of Jewish Romanticism: Franz Rosenzweig's The Star of Redemption, in Religious Studies Review, 26:4, October 2000, 391 Note on Avraham Shapira, Hope for our Time: Key Themes in the Thought of Martin Buber In Religious Studies Review, 26:4, 391, October 2000 Note on Paul Mendes-Flohr, German Jews: A Dual Identity in Religious Studies Review, 26:4, 390, October 2000 Note on Gilya G. Schmidt (ed & trans), The First Buber: Youthful Zionist Writings of Martin Buber in Religious Studies Review, 26:4, October 2000 Note on Jonathan R. Herman, I and Tao: Martin Buber's Encounter with Chuang Tzu in Religious Studies Review, 26:1, p.100, January 2000 Note on Edward K. Kaplan and Samuel H. Dresner, Abraham Joshua Heschel: Prophetic Witness in Religious Studies Review, 26:1, p.100, January 2000 Note on Barbara E. Galli (ed. and trans.), Franz Rosenzweig's "The New Thinking" in Religious Studies Review, 26:1, p.99, January 2000 Note on Barbara E. Galli (ed. and trans.), God, Man, and the World: Lectures and Essays of Franz Rosenzweig, in Religious Studies Review, 26:1, p.99, January 2000 Note on Rebecca Alpert, Like Bread on the Seder Plate: Jewish Lesbians and the Transformation of Tradition in Religious Studies Review, 26:1, p.105, January 2000 Note on Steven Kepnes, Peter Ochs, and Robert Gibbs (eds.), Reasoning after Revelation: Dialogues in Postmodern Jewish Philosophy in Religious Studies Review, 25:2, pp.203-4 Note on Michael Fishbane and Judith Glatzer Wechsler (eds.), The Memoirs of Nahum N. Glatzer Religious Studies Review, 25:2, p.211, April 1999 Note on Ezra Mendelsohn (ed.), Art and Its Uses: The Visual Image and Modern Jewish Society in Religious Studies Review, 25:2, p.211, April 1999 Note on Gideon Ofrat, One Hundred Years of Art in Israel in Religious Studies Review, 25:2, p.211, Note on Andrew Benjamin, Present Hope: Philosophy, Architecture, Judaism in Religious Studies Review, 25:2, p.204, April 1999 Note on Michael Andre Bernstein, Foregone Conclusions: Against Apocalyptic History in Religious Studies Review, 25:2, p.204, April 1999 Note on Ezra Mendelsohn (ed.), Literary Strategies: Jewish Texts and Contexts in Religious Studies Review, 24:4, p.433, October 1998 Note on T.L. Brink, Holocaust Survivors' Mental Health in Religious Studies Review, 22:4, p.334, October 1996 Note on Aaron Hass, The Aftermath: Living with the Holocaust in Religious Studies Review, 22:22, pp.4-5, January 1996
Papers Presented:
“Iconic Thinking in Jewish Aesthetics” presented at the Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, December 2005 “Maimonides and the Optics of God after Kant and Cohen” presented at Kant and Maimonides: In Commemoration of the 800 Years Since Their Respective Deaths,” a conference sponsored by the Hermann Cohen Gesellschaft in cooperation with the Academy for Jewish Philosophy held at Arizona State University, November 2004 Symposium participant, “No Graven Images: Judaism and the Rise of Abstraction in Modern Art and Music” sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program and the Composition Department of the Boyer College of Music, Temple University, March 2004 Symposium participant, “The Passion of the Christ,” sponsored by the Department of Religion, Syracuse University, March 2004 “Technology, Translation, and the Sound of Revelation” presented at the Religion and Society Speakers Series, Syracuse University, December 2003 “Martin Buber and the Art of Ritual” presented at “Martin Buber: New Perspectives/Neue Perspektiven” a conference held at the University of Frankfurt, Germany, Summer 2003 “Rosenzweig and Lessing: The Place of the Picture” presented at Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, December 2002 “Germany, Palestine, and the Space of Utopia in Twentieth Century Jewish Thought” presented at the Religion and Society Speakers Series, Syracuse University, December 2002 “Hermann Cohen and Steven Schwarzschild: Art, Judaism, and the Problem of Style” presented (in abstentia) at the American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, November 2001 "Franz Rosenzweig, Liturgy, and the Beauty of Mitzvah" presented at the 7th Annual Gruss Colloquium in Judaic Studies, Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania, May 2001 "Elu ve-Elu: Textual Difference and Sublime Judgment in Eruvin and Lyotard," presented at Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, December 2000 "Was Martin Buber Antinomian?" presented at the American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, November 2000 "Image, Word, and Jewish Thought" presented at Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania, October 2000 "Martin Buber and Wassily Kandinsky: The Content of Revelation and the Spiritual Logic of Abstraction" presented at Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, December 1999 "Holocaust Sublime and the Ethics of Remembering" presented at the American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, November 1999 "Art and the Ethics of Remembering," presented at a panel discussion on "The Legacy of Imagination and the Holocaust" at "Disturbing History: Art of Atrocity," a conference held at Colgate University, June 1999 "Franz Rosenzweig and Heinrich Wölfflin: Beautiful Form in The Star of Redemption," presented at Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, December 1998 "`Into Life'? Franz Rosenzweig and the Figure of Death" presented at Jewish Studies Annual Conference, December 1996 "Zero Sum Revelation" and (Over)Interpretation in the Thought of Emil Fackenheim and Franz Rosenzweig," presented at Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, December 1995 "A Working Trope: `The State of Israel' in the Thought of Emil Fackenheim," presented at Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, December 1994 "Eliezer Berkovits and the Rhetoric of Tradition," presented at Association for Jewish Studies Annual Conference, December 1993
Professional Service:
2001-present Section Coordinator, Modern Jewish Thought, Association for Jewish Studies 2000-present Judaism editor, Religious Studies Review 2000-present Member of Steering Committee for the Society for Textual Reasoning 2003 Advisory Editor to The Cambridge Dictionary of Jewish History, Religion, and Culture 1997-2002 Assistant Editor for Modern Jewish Thought, Religious Studies Review
Research Grants and Awards:
Arts and Sciences Faculty Subvention Fund, Syracuse University, 2005 National Foundation for Jewish Culture, Gantz-Zahler Grant for Non-Fiction Publishing, 2005 Center for Judaic Studies Fellowship; University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia PA, 2000-2001 Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture; New York, 2000-2001 Offered a Visiting Skirball Fellowship; Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies; Oxford (England), spring 2001 Nominated by Syracuse University's Office of Special Programs for a NEH summer stipend, 1998 William P. Tolley Summer Research grant; Syracuse University; Syracuse, NY, 1998 Offered a Hazel Cole Fellowship; University of Washington; Seattle, WA, 1997-1998 Offered a Yad Hanadiv Fellowship; Hebrew University; Jerusalem (Israel), 1995-1996Finkelstein Post-Doctoral Fellowship; University of Judaism; Los Angeles, 1996-1997 Offered a Yad Hanadiv Fellowship; Hebrew University; Jerusalem (Israel), 1995-1996 Pre-doctoral Research Fellowship; Stanford University; Stanford, CA, 1988-1992 DAAD summer Fellowship; Goethe Institute; Bremen (West Germany), 1989
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