Elisheva Carlebach Jofen is an American scholar of early modern Jewish history.

Career

Carlebach obtained her bachelor's degree from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

. In 1986 she completed her

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Jewish History at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. Subsequently, she was a professor of Jewish History at

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

and the

Graduate Center, CUNY The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and postgraduate university in New York City. Formed in 1961 as Division of Graduate Studies at City University ...

, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Since 2008 she has been the

Salo Wittmayer Baron Salo Wittmayer Baron (May 26, 1895 – November 25, 1989) was an Austrian-born American historian, described as "the greatest Jewish historian of the 20th century". Baron taught at Columbia University from 1930 until his retirement in 1963. Lif ...

Professor of

Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their Jewish peoplehood, nation, Judaism, religion, and Jewish culture, culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Jews originated from the Israelites and H ...

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

at Columbia University. Carlebach is married to Rabbi Mordechai Jofen, the

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...

("dean") of the Novardok yeshiva Beis Yosef in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City. She uses her maiden name professionally and her married name in her personal life. Carlebach's family was one of the preeminent rabbinical families in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

before

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. Her grandfather was Rabbi Joseph Carlebach, the last

chief rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, and her father is Rabbi

Shlomo Carlebach Shlomo Carlebach (; January 14, 1925 – October 20, 1994), known as Reb Shlomo to his followers, was an American rabbi and musician nicknamed "the Singing Rabbi". Although his roots lay in traditional Orthodox yeshivot, he branched out to c ...

who served as the

mashgiach ruchani A mashgiach ruchani (; pl., ''mashgichim ruchani'im''), sometimes mashgiach for short, is a spiritual supervisor or guide. They are usually a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva and is responsible for the non-academic areas of yesh ...

at the

Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin or Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin () is an American Haredi Lithuanian-type boys' and men's yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York. The school's divisions include a preschool, a ''yeshiva ketana'' (elementary school), a ''mesivta ...

and author of the commentary on the

Humash ''Chumash'' (also Ḥumash; , or or Yiddish: ; plural Ḥumashim) is a copy of the Torah (the Five Books of Moses that begin the Hebrew bible), printed and bound in the form of a book (i.e. a codex) for convenience when studying. In comparison, ...

''Maskil Lishlomo''.

Publications

Books

*''Palaces of Time: Jewish Calendar and Culture in Early Modern Europe,'' (Belknap Press, 2011) ISBN-10: 0674052544 *''The Pursuit of Heresy :Rabbi Moses Hagiz and the Sabbatian Controversies, '' (Columbia University Press, 1990; 1994) *''Divided Souls: Converts from Judaism in Germany, 1500-1750'' Yale University Press, 2001 . Finalist for the 2001-02 National Jewish Book Award *Co-editor,'' History and Memory: Jewish Perspectives,'' Brandeis/University Press of New England, 1998.

Articles

Source: *"Redemption and Persecution in the Eyes of R. Moses Hayim Luzzatto and his Circle", ''Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research,'' 54 (1987), 1-29. *"Converts and their Narratives in Early Modern Germany", ''Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook'', 1995 *"Rabbinic Circles on Messianic Pathways in the Post- Expulsion Era", ''Judaism: A Quarterly Journal, Special Symposium issue on the impact of the Spanish Expulsion,'' 41 (1992), pp. 208–216. *"Two Amens that Delayed the Redemption: Jewish Messianism and Popular Spirituality in the Post-Sabbatian Century", ''Jewish Quarterly Review,'' 82 (1992): 241-261. *"Sabbatianism and the Jewish-Christian Polemic", ''Proceedings of the Tenth World Congress of Jewish Studies, Division C, Vol. II: Jewish Thought and Literature'' (Jerusalem, 1990): 1-7.

Theses

Awards

* 1991:

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1943, is an American organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature. The goal of the council, as stated on its website, is "to promote the reading, writing and publishing of qual ...

in the Jewish History category for ''The Pursuit of Heresy :Rabbi Moses Hagiz and the Sabbatian Controversies''

References

External links

Faculty page
Department of History, Columbia University, with link to publications available online

Jewish Studies Program, Queens College, CUNY, circa 2001
Pursuit of Heresy: Rabbi Moses Hagiz and the Sabbatian Controversy
Columbia University Press (archived from th
original
on April 27, 2005)
Introduction to The Letters of Bella Perlhefter
Workshop at Wesleyan University, 2004 (archived from th
original
on September 5, 2012) {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlebach, Elisheva Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American people of German-Jewish descent Brooklyn College alumni CUNY Graduate Center faculty Queens College, City University of New York faculty Columbia University faculty Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni

Elisheva Elisheba (; (original) ) was the wife of Aaron, the older brother of Moses and the first High Priest of Israel. She was mentioned once in Exodus 6:23 in the Torah and the Old Testament. In the Torah In the book of Exodus, she was said to b ...

Jewish American historians Historians of Jews and Judaism American historians of religion 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Jewish women writers American women academics 21st-century American Jews