Jump to content

Moshe Greenberg: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m →Scholarship: Fixing links to disambiguation pages, improving links, other minor cleanup tasks, replaced: Exodus → Exodus using AWB
 
(42 intermediate revisions by 34 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|American rabbi}}
⚫
'''Moshe Greenberg''' ([[Hebrew]]: משה גרינברג; July 10, 1928 – May 15, 2010) was an American Jewish [[rabbi]], [[Bible]] scholar, and professor emeritus of the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]].

{{Infobox person
⚫
| name = Moshe Greenberg
⚫
| native_name = משה גרינברג
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|7|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, {{flag|United States}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2010|5|15|1928|7|10|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Jerusalem]], {{flag|Israel}}
| nationality = {{flag|Israel}} {{flag|United States}}
| occupation = Rabbi, Bible scholar
| spouse = Evelyn Gelber
| children = 3 sons
| alma_mater = [[University of Pennsylvania]]
| awards =
{{unbulleted list|
| [[Guggenheim Fellowship]] (1961)
| Harrison Prize for Distinguished Teaching and Research
| [[Israel Prize]] in Bible (1994)
}}
| image =
| caption =
}}

⚫
'''Moshe Greenberg''' ({{langx|he|משה גרינברג}}; July 10, 1928 – May 15, 2010) was an American [[rabbi]], [[Bible]] scholar, and [[professor emeritus]] of the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]].

==Biography==
==Biography==
Moshe Greenberg was born in [[Philadelphia]] in 1928. Raised in a Hebrew-speaking [[Zionist]] home, he studied Bible and Hebrew literature from his youth. His father, Rabbi [[Simon Greenberg]], was the rabbi of Har Zion Temple and one of the most important leaders of the [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative movement]]. Moshe Greenberg received his doctorate from the [[University of Pennsylvania]] in 1954, studying Bible and [[Assyriology]] under [[E. A. Speiser]]; simultaneously, he studied post-Biblical [[Judaica]] at the [[Jewish Theological Seminary of America]] (JTSA), where he was ordained as a rabbi. Greenberg was married to Evelyn Gelber and had three sons. He died in [[Jerusalem]] after a long illness.<ref>[http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/21288/ Professor's Death Means Loss of a Biblical Giant]
Moshe Greenberg was born in [[Philadelphia]] in 1928.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hevesi |first=Dennis |date=2010-05-20 |title=Moshe Greenberg, Biblical Scholar, Is Dead at 81 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/arts/20greenberg.html |access-date=2024-02-21 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Raised in a Hebrew-speaking [[Zionist]] home, he studied Bible and Hebrew literature from his youth. His father, Rabbi [[Simon Greenberg]], was the rabbi of Har Zion Temple and one of the most important leaders of the [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative movement]]. Moshe Greenberg received his doctorate from the [[University of Pennsylvania]] in 1954, studying Bible and [[Assyriology]] under [[E. A. Speiser]]; simultaneously, he studied post-Biblical [[Judaica]] at the [[Jewish Theological Seminary of America]] (JTSA), where he was ordained as a rabbi. Greenberg was married to Evelyn Gelber and had three sons. He died in [[Jerusalem]] after a long illness.<ref name="jewishexponent.com">[http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/21288/ Professor's Death Means Loss of a Biblical Giant]</ref>
</ref>


==Academic and literary career==
==Academic and literary career==
Greenberg taught Bible and Judaica at the University of Pennsylvania from 1964-1970. He held a chair in [[Jewish studies]] at the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]], an institution at which he had taught since 1970. He also taught at [[Swarthmore College]], the JTSA, the [[University of California, Berkeley]] and the [[Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies]]. Greenberg was editor-in-chief of the [[Ketuvim]] section of the [[Jewish Publication Society of America]]'s [[New Jewish Publication Society of America Version|new English]] translation of the [[Bible]]. He was the author of ten books and numerous articles.
Greenberg taught Bible and Judaica at the University of Pennsylvania from 1964-1970. He held a chair in [[Jewish studies]] at the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]], an institution at which he had taught since 1970. He also taught at [[Swarthmore College]], the JTSA, the [[University of California, Berkeley]] and the [[Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies]]. Greenberg was editor-in-chief of the [[Ketuvim]] section of the [[Jewish Publication Society of America]]'s [[New Jewish Publication Society of America Version|new English]] translation of the [[Bible]]. He was the author of ten books and numerous articles. From 1994-1995 he held a fellowship at the [[Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies]], doing research in Historiography.<ref>{{Cite web|last=katzcenterupenn|title=Moshe Greenberg|url=https://katz.sas.upenn.edu/who-we-are/moshe-greenberg|access-date=2020-07-29|website=Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies|language=en}}</ref>


==Scholarship==
==Scholarship==
⚫
Greenberg was the first Jewish Bible scholar appointed to a position in a secular university after [[World War II]] and had an important influence on the development of [[Biblical scholarship]].<ref name="jewishexponent.com"/> He focused on the phenomenology of biblical religion and law, the theory and practice of interpreting biblical texts, and the role of the Bible in Jewish thought. In the area of prayer, Greenberg studied the development of biblical petition and praise, which he portrayed as "a vehicle of humility, an expression of un-selfsufficiency, which in biblical thought, is the proper stance of humans before God" (Studies, 75-108).<ref>{{cite web |title=Moshe Greenberg, Biblical Scholar, Is Dead at 81 (Published 2010) |website=[[The New York Times]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617103555/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/arts/20greenberg.html |archive-date=2022-06-17 |url-status=live |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/arts/20greenberg.html}}</ref> He showed that the prose prayers embedded in biblical narratives reflect the piety of commoners, and reasoned that the frequency of spontaneous prayer strengthened the egalitarian tendency of Israelite religion which led to the establishment of the [[synagogue]]. In the area of biblical law, Greenberg argued that "the law [is] the expression of underlying postulates or values of culture" and that differences between biblical and ancient Near Eastern laws were not reflections of different stages of social development but of different underlying legal and religious principles (Studies, 25-41). Analyzing economic, social, political, and religious laws in the [[Torah]], he showed that they dispersed authority throughout society and prevented the monopolization of prestige and power by narrow elite groups (Studies, 51-61). In his commentaries on [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] (1969) and [[Ezekiel]] (1983, 1997), Greenberg developed a "holistic" method of exegesis, redirecting attention from the text's "hypothetically reconstructed elements" to the biblical books as integral wholes and products of thoughtful and artistic design. Greenberg's studies of Jewish thought include studies of the intellectual achievements of medieval Jewish exegesis, investigations of rabbinic reflections on defying illegal orders (Studies, 395-403), and attitudes toward members of other religions (Studies, 369-393; "A Problematic Heritage"). He argued that a Scripture-based religion must avoid fundamentalism through selectivity and re-prioritizing values.
Greenberg was the first Jewish Bible scholar appointed to a position in a secular university after [[World War II]] and had an important influence on the development of [[Biblical scholarship]]. <ref>[http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/21288/ Professor's Death Means Loss of a Biblical Giant]
⚫
</ref>He focused on the phenomenology of biblical religion and law, the theory and practice of interpreting biblical texts, and the role of the Bible in Jewish thought. In the area of prayer, Greenberg studied the development of biblical petition and praise, which he portrayed as "a vehicle of humility, an expression of un-selfsufficiency, which in biblical thought, is the proper stance of humans before God" (Studies, 75-108).<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/arts/20greenberg.html New York Times obituary]</ref> He showed that the prose prayers embedded in biblical narratives reflect the piety of commoners, and reasoned that the frequency of spontaneous prayer strengthened the egalitarian tendency of Israelite religion which led to the establishment of the [[synagogue]]. In the area of biblical law, Greenberg argued that "the law [is] the expression of underlying postulates or values of culture" and that differences between biblical and ancient Near Eastern laws were not reflections of different stages of social development but of different underlying legal and religious principles (Studies, 25-41). Analyzing economic, social, political, and religious laws in the [[Torah]], he showed that they dispersed authority throughout society and prevented the monopolization of prestige and power by narrow elite groups (Studies, 51-61). In his commentaries on [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] (1969) and [[Ezekiel]] (1983, 1997), Greenberg developed a "holistic" method of exegesis, redirecting attention from the text's "hypothetically reconstructed elements" to the biblical books as integral wholes and products of thoughtful and artistic design. Greenberg's studies of Jewish thought include studies of the intellectual achievements of medieval Jewish exegesis, investigations of rabbinic reflections on defying illegal orders (Studies, 395-403), and attitudes toward members of other religions (Studies, 369-393; "A Problematic Heritage"). He argued that a Scripture-based religion must avoid fundamentalism through selectivity and re-prioritizing values.


==Awards==
==Awards==
* In 1961, Greenberg was awarded a [[Guggenheim Fellowship]].
* In 1961, Greenberg was awarded a [[Guggenheim Fellowship]].
* He was also awarded the Harrison Prize for Distinguished Teaching and Research.
* He was also awarded the Harrison Prize for Distinguished Teaching and Research.
* In 1994, he was awarded the [[Israel Prize]] in Bible.<ref name=prize>{{Cite web| title = Israel Prize Official Site - Recipients in 1994 (in Hebrew)| url = http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/TashnagTashsab/TASNAG_TASNAT_Rikuz.htm?DictionaryKey=Tashnad}}</ref>. Greenberg also taught at Beyt Midrash leShalom, the Peace Study Center sponsored jointly by the Israeli Religious Peace Movement Netivot Shalom and by Tikkun Magazine.
* In 1994, he was awarded the [[Israel Prize]] in Bible.<ref name=prize>{{Cite web| title = Israel Prize Official Site - Recipients in 1994 (in Hebrew)| url = http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/TashnagTashsab/TASNAG_TASNAT_Rikuz.htm?DictionaryKey=Tashnad}}</ref> Greenberg also taught at Beyt Midrash leShalom, the Peace Study Center sponsored jointly by the Israeli Religious Peace Movement Netivot Shalom and by Tikkun Magazine.


==Published works==
==Published works==
*''Hab Piru'', 1955
*''Hab Piru'', 1955
*''Introduction to Hebrew'', 1965
*''Understanding Exodus'', 1967
*''Understanding Exodus'', 1967
*''Biblical Prose Prayer as a Window to the Popular Religion of Ancient Israel,'' 1983
*''Biblical Prose Prayer as a Window to the Popular Religion of Ancient Israel,'' 1983
*''Ezekiel'' in the ''[[Anchor Bible Series]]'' 3 volumes, 1983, 1997 (third volume was to be completed by Jacob Milgrom, who passed away June 5, 2010)
*''Ezekiel'' in the ''[[Anchor Bible Series]]'' 3 volumes, 1983, 1997 (third volume was to be completed by [[Jacob Milgrom]], who died June 5, 2010)
*''Torah: Five Books of Moses'', 2000
*''Torah: Five Books of Moses'', 2000

== See also ==
== See also ==
*[[List of Israel Prize recipients]]
*[[List of Israel Prize recipients]]

==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
⚫
==Bibliography==
⚫
*Moshe Greenberg: An Appreciation," and "Bibliography of the Writings of Moshe Greenberg," pp. ix-xxxviii in M. Cogan, B.L. Eichler, and J.H. Tigay, eds., Tehilla le-Moshe. Biblical and Judaic
⚫
*Studies in Honor of Moshe Greenberg. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbraun's, 1997
⚫
*S.D. Sperling, ed., Students of the Covenant: A History of Jewish Biblical Scholarship in North America (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992), index s.v. "Greenberg, Moshe."
⚫
*Pras Yisra'el 5754 (Israel Prizes, 1994). Israel: Ministry of Science and Arts; Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports, 1994), pp. 5-7 (in Hebrew)




⚫
== Bibliography ==
⚫
* Moshe Greenberg: An Appreciation," and "Bibliography of the Writings of Moshe Greenberg," pp. ix-xxxviii in M. Cogan, [[Barry L. Eichler|B.L. Eichler]], and [[Jeffrey H. Tigay|J.H. Tigay]], eds., Tehilla le-Moshe. Biblical and Judaic
⚫
* Studies in Honor of Moshe Greenberg. Winona Lake, Indiana: [[Eisenbrauns]], 1997
⚫
* [[S. David Sperling|S.D. Sperling]], ed., Students of the Covenant: A History of Jewish Biblical Scholarship in North America (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992), index s.v. "Greenberg, Moshe."
⚫
* Pras Yisra'el 5754 (Israel Prizes, 1994). Israel: Ministry of Science and Arts; Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports, 1994), pp.&nbsp;5–7 (in Hebrew)
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenberg, Moshe}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenberg, Moshe}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:American Jews]]
[[Category:Jewish biblical scholars]]
[[Category:Judaic studies in academia]]
[[Category:Israeli biblical scholars]]
[[Category:American biblical scholars]]
[[Category:Israel Prize in biblical studies recipients]]
[[Category:Translators of the Bible into English]]
[[Category:Translators of the Bible into English]]
[[Category:Guggenheim Fellows]]
[[Category:Judaic scholars]]
[[Category:Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Israel Prize in biblical studies recipients]]
[[Category:American emigrants to Israel]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]

[[Category:Rabbis from Philadelphia]]
⚫
[[de:Moshe Greenberg]]
[[Category:Jewish translators of the Bible]]
⚫
[[he:משה גרינברג]]
[[Category:20th-century American translators]]
[[fi:Moshe Greenberg]]
[[Category:20th-century Jewish biblical scholars]]
[[Category:20th-century Israeli rabbis]]

Latest revision as of 04:12, 8 November 2024

Moshe Greenberg
משה גרינברג
Born(1928-07-10)10 July 1928
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,  United States
Died15 May 2010(2010-05-15) (aged 81)
Jerusalem,  Israel
Nationality Israel  United States
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania
Occupation(s)Rabbi, Bible scholar
SpouseEvelyn Gelber
Children3 sons
Awards

Moshe Greenberg (Hebrew: משה גרינברג; July 10, 1928 – May 15, 2010) was an American rabbi, Bible scholar, and professor emeritus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Biography

[edit]

Moshe Greenberg was born in Philadelphia in 1928.[1] Raised in a Hebrew-speaking Zionist home, he studied Bible and Hebrew literature from his youth. His father, Rabbi Simon Greenberg, was the rabbi of Har Zion Temple and one of the most important leaders of the Conservative movement. Moshe Greenberg received his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1954, studying Bible and Assyriology under E. A. Speiser; simultaneously, he studied post-Biblical Judaica at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTSA), where he was ordained as a rabbi. Greenberg was married to Evelyn Gelber and had three sons. He died in Jerusalem after a long illness.[2]

Academic and literary career

[edit]

Greenberg taught Bible and Judaica at the University of Pennsylvania from 1964-1970. He held a chair in Jewish studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an institution at which he had taught since 1970. He also taught at Swarthmore College, the JTSA, the University of California, Berkeley and the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies. Greenberg was editor-in-chief of the Ketuvim section of the Jewish Publication Society of America's new English translation of the Bible. He was the author of ten books and numerous articles. From 1994-1995 he held a fellowship at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, doing research in Historiography.[3]

Scholarship

[edit]

Greenberg was the first Jewish Bible scholar appointed to a position in a secular university after World War II and had an important influence on the development of Biblical scholarship.[2] He focused on the phenomenology of biblical religion and law, the theory and practice of interpreting biblical texts, and the role of the Bible in Jewish thought. In the area of prayer, Greenberg studied the development of biblical petition and praise, which he portrayed as "a vehicle of humility, an expression of un-selfsufficiency, which in biblical thought, is the proper stance of humans before God" (Studies, 75-108).[4] He showed that the prose prayers embedded in biblical narratives reflect the piety of commoners, and reasoned that the frequency of spontaneous prayer strengthened the egalitarian tendency of Israelite religion which led to the establishment of the synagogue. In the area of biblical law, Greenberg argued that "the law [is] the expression of underlying postulates or values of culture" and that differences between biblical and ancient Near Eastern laws were not reflections of different stages of social development but of different underlying legal and religious principles (Studies, 25-41). Analyzing economic, social, political, and religious laws in the Torah, he showed that they dispersed authority throughout society and prevented the monopolization of prestige and power by narrow elite groups (Studies, 51-61). In his commentaries on Exodus (1969) and Ezekiel (1983, 1997), Greenberg developed a "holistic" method of exegesis, redirecting attention from the text's "hypothetically reconstructed elements" to the biblical books as integral wholes and products of thoughtful and artistic design. Greenberg's studies of Jewish thought include studies of the intellectual achievements of medieval Jewish exegesis, investigations of rabbinic reflections on defying illegal orders (Studies, 395-403), and attitudes toward members of other religions (Studies, 369-393; "A Problematic Heritage"). He argued that a Scripture-based religion must avoid fundamentalism through selectivity and re-prioritizing values.

Awards

[edit]
  • In 1961, Greenberg was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.
  • He was also awarded the Harrison Prize for Distinguished Teaching and Research.
  • In 1994, he was awarded the Israel Prize in Bible.[5] Greenberg also taught at Beyt Midrash leShalom, the Peace Study Center sponsored jointly by the Israeli Religious Peace Movement Netivot Shalom and by Tikkun Magazine.

Published works

[edit]
  • Hab Piru, 1955
  • Introduction to Hebrew, 1965
  • Understanding Exodus, 1967
  • Biblical Prose Prayer as a Window to the Popular Religion of Ancient Israel, 1983
  • Ezekiel in the Anchor Bible Series 3 volumes, 1983, 1997 (third volume was to be completed by Jacob Milgrom, who died June 5, 2010)
  • Torah: Five Books of Moses, 2000

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Hevesi, Dennis (2010-05-20). "Moshe Greenberg, Biblical Scholar, Is Dead at 81". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  2. ^ a b Professor's Death Means Loss of a Biblical Giant
  3. ^ katzcenterupenn. "Moshe Greenberg". Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  4. ^ "Moshe Greenberg, Biblical Scholar, Is Dead at 81 (Published 2010)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2022-06-17.
  5. ^ "Israel Prize Official Site - Recipients in 1994 (in Hebrew)".

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Moshe Greenberg: An Appreciation," and "Bibliography of the Writings of Moshe Greenberg," pp. ix-xxxviii in M. Cogan, B.L. Eichler, and J.H. Tigay, eds., Tehilla le-Moshe. Biblical and Judaic
  • Studies in Honor of Moshe Greenberg. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1997
  • S.D. Sperling, ed., Students of the Covenant: A History of Jewish Biblical Scholarship in North America (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992), index s.v. "Greenberg, Moshe."
  • Pras Yisra'el 5754 (Israel Prizes, 1994). Israel: Ministry of Science and Arts; Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports, 1994), pp. 5–7 (in Hebrew)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Moshe_Greenberg&oldid=1256090099"