Michael A. Fishbane (born 1943) is an American scholar of
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
and
rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire corpus of works authored by rabbis throughout Jewish history. The term typically refers to literature from the Talmudic era (70–640 CE), as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic ...
. Formerly at
Brandeis University
Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...
, he is currently Professor Emeritus of Jewish Studies at the Divinity School,
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
.
Fishbane (Ph.D.,
Brandeis University
Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...
) is well known as a
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" . '' JPS Tanakh. He has also written on the subjects of
Midrash
''Midrash'' (;"midrash" . ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...
,
mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...
,
myth
Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
and Jewish theology. In 2015, Fishbane published a multileveled comprehensive commentary presenting the full range of Jewish interpretations on the Song of Songs (Jewish Publication Society).
He has received the ''Lifetime Achievement in Textual Studies'' award from the National Foundation For Jewish Culture.
Bibliography
* ''Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel,'' (Oxford Clarendon Press, 1985.)
* ''Garments of Torah: Essays in Biblical Hermeneutics,'' (Indiana University Press, 1989.)
* ''The Kiss of God: Spiritual and Mystical Death in Judaism,'' (University of Washington Press, 1994.)
* ''The Exegetical Imagination: On Jewish Thought and Theology,'' (Harvard University Press, 1998.)
* ''Biblical Text and Texture: A Literary Reading of Selected Texts,'' (Oneworld Publications, 1998.)
* ''The JPS Bible Commentary: Haftarot,'' (Jewish Publication Society, 2002.)
* ''Biblical Myth and Rabbinic Mythmaking,'' (Oxford University Press, 2003.)
* ''Sacred Attunement: A Jewish Theology,'' (University of Chicago Press, 2007.)
* ''The JPS Bible Commentary: Song of Songs,'' (Jewish Publication Society, 2015)
* ''Fragile Finitude: A Jewish Hermeneutical Theology,'' (University of Chicago Press, 2021)
Awards
* 1986: National Jewish Book Award Scholarship for ''Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel''
*1994: National Jewish Book Award in the Jewish Thought category for ''The Kiss of God: Spiritual and Mystical Death in Judaism''