Classes

FROM SCROLLS TO PRINT:
THE JEWISH BOOK AS A CULTURAL ARTIFACT

Three-week course taught by Dr. Rachel Zohn Miller,
Wednesday Nights, February 5, 12 and 19

The physical characteristics of Jewish books – not only their contents – are invaluable sources of information about Jewish history and culture. Explore the cultural connections of Jews to the societies in which they lived by examining illustrations, scripts and page layouts in Jewish books. Learn how changes in book format – from ancient scrolls to medieval manuscripts to printed books – affected the transmission of Jewish tradition and the nature of reading audiences.

Through this visual encounter with Jewish books from different periods, gain a better understanding of the communities that produced them.

Dr. Rachel Zohn Mincer is a Jewish history scholar whose main field of interest is history of the Jewish book, particularly for the late medieval and early modern periods. Her research has focused on minhagim books and other types of ritual guides produced in Ashkenazic society. Since getting her Ph.D. in Jewish history from JTS, Rachel has taught in a variety of institutions, including NYU, the Academy for Jewish Religion, Queens College and Adelphi University. Jewish history is a second career for Rachel, who used to be a college mathematics instructor.