Faculty Directory
Professor Ari Mermelstein

Ari
Mermelstein

Associate Professor of Bible and Second Temple Literature; Chair, Department of Bible, Hebrew, and Near Eastern Studies

mermels@yu.edu

Wilf campus - Belfer Hall 539
 

PhD, New York University, 2011
JD, New York University, 2003
MA, Bernard Revel Graduate School, 2003
BA, Yeshiva College, 2000

Ari Mermelstein is Associate Professor of Bible and Second Temple Literature at Yeshiva University, Chair of the Department of Bible, Hebrew, and Near Eastern Studies, and assistant director of the YU Center for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization and the Israeli Supreme Court Project, both based at Cardozo Law School. He holds a PhD in Ancient Jewish History from NYU’s Department of Hebrew & Judaic Studies and a J.D. from NYU Law School.

Finalist, 2021 National Jewish Book Award (Scholarship) for Power and Emotion in Ancient Judaism: Community and Identity in Formation (judges' remarks here)

William L. and Lillian Silber Professor of the Year, Yeshiva College, 2015-16; 2017-18

His most recent book, Power and Emotion in Ancient Judaism: Community and Identity in Formation (Cambridge University Press, 2021; discount flyer is available here), which looks at the mutually reinforcing relationship between power and emotion in ancient Judaism, was a finalist for the 2021 National Jewish Book Award in the category of scholarship. His first book, The Genesis of Beginnings: Creation, Covenant, and Conceptions of Historical Time in Second Temple Judaism (Brill, 2014),  focuses on conceptions of history in the Second Temple period. Mermelstein’s current research agenda explores the pro-social, moral, and cognitive dimensions of emotion in ancient Judaism. His articles have appeared in Dead Sea Discoveries, Journal for the Study of Judaism, Journal of Ancient Judaism, Journal for the Study of Pseudepigrapha, and Biblical Interpretation. Dr. Mermelstein is currently working on a book project devoted to silence and speech in ancient Judaism entitled "Silent Voices: Emotion, Prayer, and Identity in Ancient Judaism."

 

Find Ari Mermelstein’s publications on YAIR: Yeshiva Academic Institutional Repository and on his academia.edu page

mermels@yu.edu

Wilf campus - Belfer Hall 539
 

MEDIA RELATIONS

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Fall 2024

Josephus: Profile of a Second Temple Jew (Graduate)

Book of Ezekiel

 

Spring 2024
Introduction to Biblical Studies (Graduate)

Classical Jewish History

 

Fall 2023
Paul: Profile of a First-Century Jew (Graduate)

Book of Judges

 

Spring 2023
Introduction to Biblical Studies (Graduate)

Classical Jewish History

 

Fall 2022
Philo of Alexandria: Profile of a Second Temple Jew (Graduate)

Book of Ezra-Nehemiah

 

Spring 2022
Introduction to Biblical Studies (Graduate)

Book of Ezra-Nehemiah

Introduction to the Bible

 

Fall 2021
Josephus: Profile of a Second Temple Jew (Graduate)

Book of Kings

From David to Messiah: Messianism in Jewish Antiquity

 

Spring 2021
Introduction to Biblical Studies (Graduate)

Book of Ezra-Nehemiah

Introduction to the Bible

 

Spring 2020
Diaspora and Exile in Ancient Jewish Thought (Graduate)

From David to Messiah: Messianism in Jewish Antiquity

Book of Judges
 

Fall 2019
From David to Messiah: Messianism in Jewish Antiquity
 

Perspectives on Jewish Law in Antiquity (Graduate)