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Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
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To make a tax-deductible donation in Israel, please contact:
Dina Gudai, Israeli Representative
Phone: 074-7800643
Email: dina@schechter.ac.il
Please mail your check to:
The Schechter Institutes, Inc. (a 501(c) 3 tax exempt organization)
Box #3566
PO Box 8500
Philadelphia, PA 19178-3566
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Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
Please indicate the donation is "for your joint Schechter Institutes program."
Checks should be made payable to the Jewish Theological Society of Canada and mailed to:
Jewish Theological Society of Canada
c/o Camp Ramah in Canada
3845 Bathhurst St., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, M3H 3N2
Phone: 416-789-2193, ext. 2139
E-mail: accounting@campramah.com
Please mail a check to:
The Schechter Institutes
Attn: Dina Gudai, Finance Department
PO Box 16080,
Jerusalem, 9116002
Israel
For assistance, please call Dina Gudai at 074-780-0643 (8:00 AM – 3:00 Israel time Sunday through Thursday).
Your donation will be tax deductible in the US to the extent allowed by the IRS.
To make a tax-deductible donation by wire transfer in the US, please contact:
Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
To make a tax-deductible donation in Israel, please contact:
Dina Gudai, Israeli Representative
Phone: 074-7800643
Email: dina@schechter.ac.il
Please mail your check to:
The Schechter Institutes, Inc. (a 501(c) 3 tax exempt organization)
Box #3566
PO Box 8500
Philadelphia, PA 19178-3566
Attn: Mr. Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
Please indicate the donation is "for your joint Schechter Institutes program."
Checks should be made payable to the Jewish Theological Society of Canada and mailed to:
Jewish Theological Society of Canada
c/o Camp Ramah in Canada
3845 Bathhurst St., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, M3H 3N2
Phone: 416-789-2193, ext. 2139
E-mail: accounting@campramah.com
Please mail a check to:
The Schechter Institutes
Attn: Dina Gudai, Finance Department
PO Box 16080,
Jerusalem, 9116002
Israel
For assistance, please call Dina Gudai at 074-780-0643 (8:00 AM – 3:00 Israel time Sunday through Thursday).
22/12/2024
Schechter scholars took leading places in this year’s international Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) conference held in San Diego, California. Faculty members Prof. David Frankel, Dr. Sarah Schwartz presented papers as well organized and led sessions, while Dr. Rachel Frish was honored by the international scholarly assembly with the 2023 David Noel Freedman Award for Excellence and Creativity in Hebrew Bible Scholarship for her paper entitled, ‘Resuscitating “Wisdom Literature.”’
The SBL’s Freedman award rewards scholars within the first ten years following obtainment of their PhD degree. Dr. Frish received hers from Bar Ilan University in 2021 .
Dr. Rachel Frish, winner of 2024 David Noel Freedman Award
Frish’s award-winning paper, Resuscitating ‘Wisdom Literature,’ offers a novel framework for defining biblical and post-biblical wisdom corpus, with its tripartite grouping of Proverbs, Qoheleth, and Job as a foundation. These three works stand out as the only non-narrative compositions in the Hebrew Bible that explicitly label their speakers as sages and their sayings as words of wisdom. This ‘labeling,’ Frish argues, reflects “an abstract concept in biblical texts as well as a distinct literary categorization.” It spans different phases of the wisdom tradition and serves as the unifying thread of the genre, enabling readers to trace the connection of later works to this tradition, even as definitions of ‘wisdom’ and perceptions of who ‘is considered wise’ evolve and change.
Grounded in the premise that readers—ancient and modern alike—evaluate texts based on their self-presentation and the authority conferred by their framing strategies, Frish illustrates how these strategies shape readers’ expectations and provide interpretive guidance. She compellingly defends the legitimacy of the ‘wisdom’ category as a literary construct, countering recent challenges to its definitions and even its very existence within biblical scholarship.
Dr. Sarah Schwartz, incoming Dean of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, presided over a SBL session dedicated to studying ‘Biblical Law in the Book of Samuel: Narrative, Theology, and Interpretation.’ The papers given at the session examined biblical legalism in relation to the Book of Samuel with the central theme: Echoes of Torah in the Book of Samuel.
Dr. Sarah Schwartz, Incoming Dean, Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies
Dr. Schwartz’s research this past year culminated in a paper given at the ‘Book of Samuel: Narrative, Theology, and Interpretation session.’ The paper “Samuel’s Call Narrative: Literary Design and Meaning” describes from a literary view, the structure and meaning of Samuel’s call narrative (1 Sam 3:1-4:1a).
Her paper offers a literary analysis of the unique divine revelation to Samuel (1 Sam 3:4-10), demonstrating, “that the narrative includes a deliberate misleading of Samuel by God, intended to provide Eli with a central position in the process of Samuel’s initiation to prophecy. Thus, the narrative signifies not only Samuel’s personal transformation, but also the change of positions between Samuel and Eli, and the transition from priesthood to prophecy.” The importance of this analysis, “illuminate the narrative’s messages conveyed through its literary design and also provide advanced insights into Eli’s character and role in 1 Samuel 1-4.”
Prof. David Frankel’s work with Christian biblical scholars at SBL deepened his cross-religious discussions. For the past four years, he has co-chaired the group’s Theology of Hebrew Scriptures section. Alongside a colleague from the Wesley Theological Seminary, Prof. Frankel is at the forefront of this group’s activities facilitating Jewish-Christian dialogue and creating a venue where Jewish and Christian interpreters can reflect together on a theological interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Prof. David Frankel, Bible Dept., Schechter
Institute of Jewish Studies
This year, he presided over a session dedicated to a book by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Brettler “The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently,” bringing together scholars from both religions to discuss relevant, different and various readings of the Bible. The discussions lasted long after the session ended.
Prof. Frankel presented a paper: ‘Before Purim: The Original Form of the Esther Story’ in a session dedicated to Literature and History of the Persian Period on the theme Methodology of Dating Literature. Rather than seeking out an early non-Jewish holiday that may have been the origins of the Purim festival, he focused his paper on the original form of the Esther story, prior to its being used to as the foundation for the Purim holiday.
His meticulous reading of the text shows that, “the original story is essentially a story about the joy of “relief and deliverance” (Esther 4:14), and did not speak about any future mass killing. And this one-time celebration did not become a perpetual holiday.”
At SBL and other conference, Schechter scholars continue to stand out among their colleagues bringing valued and important views to the world.
