Dr. Boaz Shpigel

Education

Title of Ph.D. thesis: "The Halakhic Derush in the 17^th and 18^th Centuries - its Methodology, Forms and Content". supervisor: Prof. Shlomo Z. Havlin 
 

Employment (in addition to Bar-Ilan University)

Employment History

Research Grants and Awards
 

Other Professional Experience

I am invited to give lectures on a range of topics on different aspects of Judaism in synagogues, study weekends, informal study groups and other organizational initiatives both in the religious and secular communities.

List of Publications

Articles in journals

Why Did the Angel of Death Shake the Trees at King David's Death?  SHMAATIN, 150, (2002), pp. 286-311. (Hebrew)

'Why did 'Yosef Mokir Shabbos' buy the Fish?  SINAI, 133, (2004), pp. 44-69. (Hebrew)

'Wine and the Purim Meal - Aspects of Halakha and Literature in the Sugya in Bavli Megillah (7b)', BDD, 15 (2004). pp. 43-63. (Hebrew)

'Ahasuerus' Change of Heart at Esther's Second Banquet - A Special Aspect of Heavenly Intervention in Rabbinic Literature', MEGADIM, 43, (2004), pp. 87-118. (Hebrew)

Different Approaches in the Tanaitic Literature Regarding the 'Husband's Warning' in the Law of Sotah and their Meaning', SHENATON HA-MISHPAT HA-IVRI, 23 (2005), pp. 351-382. (Hebrew)

'The Expression 'Milta Agav Orkheih Ka Mashma Lan' ('He teaches us something [else] incidentally'), and its Characteristic Usages in Babylonian Sugyot', SIDRA, 21 (2006), pp. 113-132. (Hebrew)

'Abraham's Prayers - in the Bible, Talmudic Literature and Rabbinic Commentaries', SINAI, 138, 2, (2006), pp. 28-71. (Hebrew)

'How did Ahasuerus and Haman not Know that Esther was a Jewess? A Variety of Approaches in Rabbinic Literature', MEGADIM, 49, 2008, pp. 71-107. (Hebrew)

'Does the Angel of Death Kill Torah Scholars? The Approach of the Stammaim', HUCA, 79 (2008), pp. 49-86 (Hebrew)

'Did Rabban Gamliel see a real dream? - Studies in Babylonian Talmud in Tractate Brachott, 28, a', SINAI, 148, (2014), pp. 29-72. (Hebrew)

'Why was not Haran Mentioned in Joshua’s Last Speech? - Haran in the Eyes of Rabbinical Literature', MEGADIM, 57, 2018, pp. 31-66 (Hebrew).

Why was Og "Saved from the Flood" - Three Approaches in Rabbinical Literature, SINAI, 150, (2018), pp. 93-142. (Hebrew)

What did the Egyptians Drink During the Plague of Blood? – A Study of Midrashim and Rishonim Literature, ORESHET, 8 ,2018, pp. 199-226. (Hebrew).

Why was Elijah sent to Rabbi Akiva and his wife? - To the ways of providence seen from the story in Bavli  Nedarim, 50a, SINAI, 153, (2020), pp. 5-56. (Hebrew).

Chapters and / or articles within books:

'That our Merits Increase like (the seeds of) a Pomegranate', in: ZE'CHU'YOS K'RIMON - Rosh HaShana Symbolic Foods: Sources, Articles and Reflections, in Memory of Eyal Joshua Yaverboim, Rehovot, 2004, pp. 135-144. (Hebrew)

'Why only cities of refuge had signs at a crossroads?' in: Ve-Hinneh Rivka Yotzet - Essays in Jewish Studies in Honor of Rivka Dagan, Jerusalem, 2017, pp. 283-293. (Hebrew)

Academic Conferences

Talmudic and Midrashic Literature; Rabbinic Literature; Derush, Sermons and Preachers Literature 

Academic Profile

I began my Academic career in the years 1995-2000. I focused my research on the study of homiletics (Derush Literature) in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. My doctoral dissertation was built around the extensive work I have done in this area and focused mainly on homiletic works defined as “Halakhic Derush”.  

      Another area I investigated in those years, but not incorporated into the doctoral dissertation (due to the requirement of the PHD Commission, not to enlarge the dissertation), was the world of Midrash Plia’a and I intend to return to this study and publish its findings in detail.

      From the year 2000 onwards, I was mainly involved in studying Talmudic and Midrashic literature as well as research of Rabbinic literature. All the courses that I taught since, in all academic institutions, were in these fields, and all my research studies and articles since were in this extensive literature. 

      My initial research (2002-2004) dealt with the analysis of Talmudic stories (a story of the death of David, Joseph Mokir Shabbat, The Purim feast of Rava and R. Zeira).

      Later, I worked extensively in the case of Sotah in rabbinic literature, one study which focuses on the Tannaitic literature, has been published in Jewish Law Annual (2005), and I will publish a complementary study - which focuses on the Amoraic literature.

      While I was heavily researching the Babylonian Talmud, I was also touching on Talmudic terms and one study in this field was published in 'Sidra' (2006), and I am far from done with my research in this area. In those years, I often studied and researched rabbinic literature related to the Book of Esther, and two large studies in this area have appeared in Megadim (2005-2008).

      Thereafter, I worked extensively on the topic of the Angel of Death in rabbinic literature, mainly studies of the related “stammaitic layer” that is found in the Babylonian Talmud. This study appeared in the journal: HUCA Vol. 79 (2010).

      A few years ago I began to engage in a number of studies, relating to the Tannaitic and Amoraic literature. One study, which actually addresses the dream in Rabban Gamliel's dismissal story, appeared in the journal Sinai (2014). This extensive research points to different approaches and differences of perception within rabbinic literature - and not only regarding the Babylonian narrator, but also regarding the change from the truth and false expressions in the relationship between God and man.

      In the years 2017-2016 I conducted a number of studies on biblical matters and biblical figures according to the traditions and insights about them in the Talmudic and Midrashic literature, and they were recently published (in 2018): (a) One study was done on Og, according to Chazal tradition that he survived the Flood, and pointed out various approaches in rabbinic literature to the reason for this salvation. (b) Another study was done on Haran ben Terach and his status in rabbinic literature, focusing on the question: why did Joshua ignore him in his last speech in which he surveyed all the fathers of the nation. (c) And another study referred to the plague of blood in Egypt, and discusses its implications for Pharaoh and the Egyptian people – in the light of  Midrashic literature and the Rishonim literature.

      Recently, I dealt with the character of Elijah the prophet in Talmudic literature, and especially with the story of his appearance, disguised as a poor man, to Rabbi Akiva and his wife - and discussed at length the meaning of this matter, comparing it to the other stories of Elijah and his appearances in Babylonian Talmud and Chazal literature. (Published a few months ago in Sinai, 2020).

      Currently, I am working on further studies dealing with biblical figures, according to the traditions and insights about them in Talmudic and Midrashic literature. One study deals with Talmudic and Midrashic material regarding survivors of the Flood who are not explicitly written. Further research is planned regarding the deaths of Samson and Saul, emphasizing the ways of heavenly providence, as they are perceived and proposed, explicitly and implicitly, in the Tannaitic and Amoraic literature.

      At the same time (and also during classes and courses), I am constantly analyzing Talmudic and Midrashic stories, and from this further studies on the Babylonian stories are planned and formed - stories about King David, the story of Samuel and Ablet; And about the story in Midrash Shemot Rabbah - about Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta and his wife.