Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi
Encyclopedia
Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi was the Salo Wittmayer Baron
Professor of Jewish History, Culture and Society at Columbia University
, a position he held from 1980 to 2008. He was replaced by Elisheva Carlebach Yoffen
.
, New York City on May 20, 1932, to Yiddish-speaking Russian parents who had immigrated to the United States. His father was a Hebrew teacher.
In 1953, Yerushalmi received his bachelor’s degree from Yeshiva University
. Later, in 1957 he was ordained as a Rabbi. He received a doctorate from Columbia University in 1966. Salo Baron was his dissertation director. From the time of receiving his doctorate until his appointment to the Columbia faculty, Yerushalmi taught at Harvard University
, where he was Jacob E. Safra Professor of Jewish History and Sephardic Civilization and chairman of the Department of Near Easter Languages and Civilizations.
Professor Yerushalmi died of emphysema
on December 8, 2009.
Salo Wittmayer Baron
Salo Wittmayer Baron was an American historian of Polish-Austrian Jewish ancestry and the most noted historian of the Jews of his generation. Baron taught at Columbia University from 1930 until his retirement in 1963....
Professor of Jewish History, Culture and Society at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, a position he held from 1980 to 2008. He was replaced by Elisheva Carlebach Yoffen
Elisheva Carlebach Yoffen
Elisheva Carlebach Jofen is an American scholar of early modern Jewish history.-Career:Carlebach is the Salo Wittmayer Baron Professor of Jewish history, culture and society at Columbia University. She was previously a Professor of Jewish History at Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY in...
.
Biography
Yerushalmi was born in the BronxThe Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, New York City on May 20, 1932, to Yiddish-speaking Russian parents who had immigrated to the United States. His father was a Hebrew teacher.
In 1953, Yerushalmi received his bachelor’s degree from Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
. Later, in 1957 he was ordained as a Rabbi. He received a doctorate from Columbia University in 1966. Salo Baron was his dissertation director. From the time of receiving his doctorate until his appointment to the Columbia faculty, Yerushalmi taught at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where he was Jacob E. Safra Professor of Jewish History and Sephardic Civilization and chairman of the Department of Near Easter Languages and Civilizations.
Professor Yerushalmi died of emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
on December 8, 2009.
Books
- Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory - 1996 (University of Washington Press, Seattle 1982)
- Freud's Moses: Judaism Terminable and Interminable – 1993
- Haggadah and History - 1975
- From Spanish Court to Italian Ghetto - 1971
Honors and Prizes
- National Jewish Book Award, 1983, 1992
- Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Fellow of the American Academy for Jewish Research
- Honorary Member of the Portuguese Academy of History in Lisbon
- Newman Medal for Distinguished Achievement by the City University of New York, 1976
- Fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities, 1976-77
- Rockefeller Fellow in the Humanities, 1983-84
- Guggenheim Fellow, 1989-90
See also
- Three haresThree haresThe three hares is a circular motif appearing in sacred sites from the Middle and Far East to the churches of southwest England , and historical synagogues in Europe....