It has been a while since my last update, but there’s lots to
tell. We’ve got books, articles, and travel plans.
Let’s start with the travel plans. If you don’t have Pesach
plans yet, please consider joining the Fischers on a riverboat cruise along the
Danube River, where Pesha and I will be scholars in residence. In addition to shi’urim
on Pesach themes, we will be discussing some fascinating aspects of Austro-Hungarian
Jewish history. Check out a list of some of our
topics. If you decide to join us, please mention my name in your
application. We will also be in the US this summer, for the first time since 2011.
If you are interested in bringing one or both of us in as a
scholar-in-residence during July or August, please let me know.
I haven’t written a book (yet), but I’ve had a hand in a few
that have come out recently. During the summer, Rabbi Benny Lau’s Jeremiah:
the Fate of a Prophet appeared, and next week, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed’s Peninei
Halakha: Laws of Pesah is scheduled for publication. Both are published
by Koren/Maggid, and I edited both volumes. In the case of Rav Melamed’s work,
it is the first of a projected 15 (!) volume series. Two volumes on the Laws of
Shabbat and two volumes on the Laws of Prayer (one specifically geared toward
women; sponsorships are available, so please be in touch if you are interested)
will appear in the near future.
A copy of Prof. Moshe Halbertal’s Maimonides:
Life and Thought should be arriving in by mailbox any day. I had a
small hand in this volume as well, having translated a chapter that originally
appeared in Hebrew. I look forward to sinking my teeth into the rest of the
volume.
Last but not least, The
Iranian Talmud by my brother-in-law Shai Secunda is hot off the press. He
and I have collaborated
on articles,
but this one’s all his (though he graciously mentions me as a “valued
interlocutor” in the acknowledgments). We are absolutely thrilled for him!
There have been quite
a few opportunities for me to write articles lately, with more on the way. A
few months ago, New York’s Jewish Week gave me the opportunity to
express some thoughts
on Rav Ovadia Yosef upon the occasion of his passing (there has also been
some interest in translating R. Benny Lau’s
book on R. Ovadia; once again, there are sponsorship opportunities. Contact
me if you are interested). More recently, the same publication gratified my
penchant for pot-stirring by publishing
my article on get-withholding, in which I buck conventional wisdom.
The backlash has been milder than expected, at least for now.
The most recent issue of Jewish Action has a section
on “out of town” communities. They asked me to write an
article on building a college campus community. It’s a short piece, but I
managed to make some points while also sneaking in some veiled cynicism.
Most recently, I reviewed Ari Shavit’s My
Promised Land for Commentary. It is very exciting for me to be
published in such a venerable and well-regarded magazine. Hopefully this is not
the last time. The review
is paywalled, but one blogger posted a fairly extensive
excerpt.
A few articles I translated have appeared as well: some of
R. Dr. Avie Walfish’s recently
posted material on Mishna Mo’ed and an important article
by R. Eliezer Melamed on domestic partnerships and Jewish marriage in Israel. You
may have also noticed that the Jordan Valley has been in the news a lot lately,
in context of the ongoing negotiations between Israel and the PA. I’ve been
helping my sister, Elana Diner, with her blog about life in the Jordan Valley
called “(Jordan) Valley Girl.” Check it out!
It’s Tu Bi-Shvat in less than a week. To help you prepare,
take a look at an article
I wrote last year and a Tu
Bi-Shvat “Haggadah” that I compiled a few years ago, which divides the “Seder”
by time period.
Enjoy!