Judith Bleich (born 1938) is a professor of

Judaic studies Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; ) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (especially Jewish history), Middle Eastern studies, Asian studies, Ori ...

Touro College Touro University is a private Jewish university system headquartered in New York City, with branches throughout the United States as well as one each in Germany, Israel and Russia. It was founded by Bernard Lander in 1971 and named for Isaac a ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. She specializes in the nineteenth-century development of

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

and

neo-Orthodoxy In Christianity, Neo-orthodoxy or Neoorthodoxy, also known as crisis theology and dialectical theology, was a theological movement developed in the aftermath of the First World War. The movement was largely a reaction against doctrines of 19th ...

in the wake of the

enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

and emancipation, and has written extensively on modern Jewish history. She is also a member of the steering committee for the Orthodox Forum organized by

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

Biography

She was born Judith Ochs. In June 1961 she married Rabbi

J. David Bleich Judah David Bleich (born August 24, 1936) is an American Haredi rabbi and professor known for his expertise in Jewish law, ethics, and bioethics. He serves as a professor of Talmud (rosh yeshiva) at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary ...

. They have three children together.

Academic credentials

Bleich earned her bachelor's degree and

Bachelor of Religious Education The Bachelor of Religious Education (BRE) is an undergraduate degree. It offers a broad education in the areas of scripture and Christian theology. This degree is primarily offered by institutions of a Christian worldview, though not exclusiv ...

from

Stern College The Stern College for Women (SCW) is the undergraduate Women's colleges in the United States, women's college of Liberal arts, arts and sciences of Yeshiva University. It is located at the university's Israel Henry Beren Campus in the Murray Hill, ...

. She earned her master's degree from Yeshiva University. She earned her doctorate from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1974 with her dissertation ''

Jacob Ettlinger Jacob Ettlinger (17 March 1798 – 7 December 1871) () was an Ashkenazi rabbi and author, and one of the leaders of Orthodox Judaism. He is sometimes referred to as the ''Aruch la-Ner'' (ערוך לנר), after his best-known publication. Biog ...

, His Life and Works: The Emergence of Modern Orthodoxy in Germany''.

Selected bibliography

A full list of Bleich's articles appear
here

Articles

*"A symposium on divided and distinguished worlds". ''Tradition'' 26,2 (1992) 4-62 *"Between East and West: modernity and traditionalism in the writings of Rabbi Yehi’el Ya’akov Weinberg". ''Engaging Modernity'' (1997) 169-273 *"The Emergence of an Orthodox Press in Nineteenth-Century Germany". ''Jewish Social Studies'' 42 3/4 (1980), 323-344 *"Liturgical innovation and spirituality: Trends and trendiness". ''Jewish Spirituality and Divine Law'' (2005) 315-405 *"Rabbi Akiva Eger and the Nascent Reform Movement", in ''Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies'' 9.B3 (1986) *"Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch: Ish al Ha’edah". ''Jewish Action'' 56.4: 28 *"Rabbinic responses to nonobservance in the modern era". ''Jewish Tradition and the Non-Traditional Jew'' (1992) 37-115 *"The Testament of a Halakhist". ''Tradition'' 20.3 (1982)

Book chapters

*"The Circumcision Controversy in Classical Reform in Historical Context" in ''Turim: Studies in Jewish history and literature presented to Dr. Bernard Lander'' (Volume 1) (2007). *"Greater Resources, Greater Accountability" in ''The Ethical Imperative: Torah perspectives on ethics and values'' (2000) *"Military service: Ambivalence and contradiction" in ''War and Peace in the Jewish Tradition'' (2007), 415-476

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleich, Judith Stern College for Women alumni New York University alumni Touro College faculty 20th-century American Jews 1938 births Living people 21st-century American Jews