Jacob Neusner, one of the most influential voices in American Jewish intellectual life in the past half-century, died Oct. 8 at his home in New York. He was 84.
Neusner wrote or edited more than 950 books. His funeral was held at Bard College, where he taught theology since 1994. He also taught at Columbia University, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Brandeis University, Brown University and the University of South Florida.
Earlier this summer, the NYU Press released an extensive biography titled “Jacob Neusner: An American Jewish Iconoclast” by Aaron W. Hughes.
“[In] the ’50s, there took place an explosion of Jewish studies on campus, and Neusner had a very significant role in training a new generation of scholars to occupy these new positions,” wrote Rabbi Jack Riemer in a review in the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. “Toward that end, Neusner produced a gigantic library of classic Jewish sources in translation. The entire Babylonian Talmud, the entire Palestinian Talmud, most of the Midrash and many other indispensable books were made available to the general reader by Neusner.”
Neusner’s influence also extended to the study of other religions in books he wrote and conferences he held exploring how Judaism influenced and was influenced by Islam and Christianity. — jta