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JTS Rare Book Collection with Dr. David Kraemer

Past Sessions
Thursday, November 19, 2020 • 3 Kislev 5781 - 7:00 PM - 7:50 PM
Thursday, November 5, 2020 • 18 Cheshvan 5781 - 7:00 PM - 7:50 PM
 
 
“The Real Lives of Jews in the Traditional World: Surprises from the Special Collections of the JTS Library”—Many of us know the “official version” of the lives of Jews through the ages, according to which Jews were pious and thoroughly immersed in Jewish life—a life apart. But many of the rare materials in the JTS Library offer a different picture, according to which Jews lived in the world with their neighbors, experiencing life first as human beings and then as Jews. In these two sessions, professor and Librarian David Kraemer will share evidence from the Library’s great collections, surprising and even shocking you with a corrective to commonly repeated historical “truths.”
 
 
David Kraemer has been part of the JTS community since 1977 when he enrolled at The Graduate School after completing his undergraduate degree at Brandeis University.
He began teaching as a graduate student in 1980, receiving his PhD in 1984. Dr. Kraemer’s focus as a professor is on the literary analysis of rabbinic literature, rabbinic ritual, and the social and religious history of Jews in late antiquity. He accepted the position of Librarian in 2004 and has since played a crucial role in forging policy and expanding the impact of the Library’s world-renowned collections and programs.  
Dr. Kraemer is a prolific author and commentator. In addition to his books (see below), he has written influential articles on the biblical books of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Mishnah, and other subjects, along with a commentary on Paul's Letter to the Ephesians (in The Jewish Annotated New Testament, 2nd edition). 
SELECT PUBLISHED WORKS 
A History of the Talmud. Cambridge University Press, 2019. 
Rabbinic Judaism: Space and Place. Routledge, 2016. 
Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages. Routledge, 2007. 
Exploring Judaism: The Collected Essays of David Kraemer. Scholars' Press, 2000. 
The Meanings of Death in Rabbinic Judaism. Routledge, 2000. 
Reading the Rabbis: The Talmud as Literature. Oxford University Press, 1996. 
Responses to Suffering in Classical Rabbinic Literature. Oxford University Press, 1995. 
The Mind of the Talmud: An Intellectual History of the Bavli. Oxford University Press, 1990. 
A History of the Talmud, Cambridge University Press, 2019. 
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Fri, April 25 2025 27 Nisan 5785