Erez DeGolan

Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Jewish Studies

Contact
Email:
ed114@wellesley.edu
Department
Jewish Studies

A scholar of Ancient Judaism and Religion

I specialize in classical rabbinic literature in Hebrew and Aramaic from between the first and seventh centuries (CE). My research combines textual, historical, and critical methods in studies of ancient and late-ancient rabbinic culture. My work appeared in the Ancient Jew Review, Jewish Law Association Studies, the Journal of Textual Reasoning, and the Journal of the American Academy of Religion.

At Wellesley, I am working on a book project, titled Rejoicing Rabbis: Emotions and Power in Roman Palestine, which explores the nexus between joy and political culture in rabbinic texts from Roman Palestine. I am also developing a new research project on the theme of ritual attentiveness in premodern Jewish prayer.

My courses offer students a panoramic view of Judaism and invite them to contemplate dynamics of continuity and change in religious traditions.

I served on the Program Committee of the Association Association for Jewish Studies, was the Book Review Editor for the Journal of Religion and Violence, and co-organized the 2020 Ancient Judaism Regional Seminar, which was awarded the Cross-Institutional Cooperative Grant by the American Academy for Jewish Research. I was a Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellow.

I overstate my guitar skills and downplay my juggling talent.

Education

  • B.A., Tel Aviv University
  • M.Th., Harvard University
  • M.A., Columbia University in the City of New York
  • M.Phil, Columbia University in the City of New York
  • Ph.D., Columbia University in the City of New York

Current and upcoming courses

Attention! Religion in a Distracted World

JWST103

How might diverse religious traditions inform critical reflections on our “age of distraction?” Engaging works in psychology, sociology, and philosophy, we will examine sacred texts, rituals, and teachings from a variety of religious traditions and consider different techniques for cultivating attention, including meditation, sacrifice, and the use of “wearables” like prayer beads and amulets. We will ask how individuals and groups applied these tools and techniques to sustain attention in both sacred and everyday life. We will also interrogate how attention functions as a political practice, as a performative device for mediating power relations and indexing corporate identities. The course is open to all students and invites diverse perspectives on how we navigate the tension between distraction and depth in our fast-paced, push-notifications-saturated, multitasking-valorizing society. (JWST 103 and REL 103 are cross-listed courses.)