Eliezer B. Diamond
Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics
Department: Talmud and Rabbinics
Phone: (212) 678-8939
Email: eldiamond@jtsa.edu
Building Room: Kripke 615
Office Hours: By Appointment
BIOGRAPHY
BA, MS, and Rabbinical Ordination, Yeshiva University; PhD, The Jewish Theological Seminary
Dr. Eliezer Diamond is the Rabbi Judah Nadich Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at The Jewish Theological Seminary. He teaches courses in rabbinic literature and introductory, intermediate, and advanced Talmud studies.
Dr. Diamond is the author of a chapter on the rabbinic period in the Schocken Guide to Jewish Books, and entries in the Reader’s Guide to Judaism and The Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. He is the author of Holy Men and Hunger Artists: Fasting and Asceticism in Rabbinic Culture (Oxford University Press, 2003). The book provides a thorough reassessment of the role that asceticism plays in rabbinic Judaism, suggesting that asceticism is more pervasive than is generally thought. Dr. Diamond has written on prayer, asceticism, and issues of environmental law and ethics. He is currently editing a commentary on Yerushalmi Pesahim written by the late Professor Louis Ginzberg, as well as a book on prayer. The prayer volume will address the problem of cognitive dissonance for the contemporary worshipper and will offer readings of traditional liturgy that use midrashic methodology to find meaning and relevance in these prayers for the modern Jew. Dr. Diamond has taught in a variety of settings, including Stern College, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, the 92nd Street Y, and several Ramah camps. Dr. Diamond was ordained at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University and received his doctorate in Talmud from JTS.
PUBLICATIONS
- Holy Men and Hunger Artists: Fasting and Asceticism in Rabbinic Culture. Oxford University Press, 2003.
