Leora Batnitzky

Leora Batnitzky is a Professor of Religion and the Ronald O. Perelman Professor of Jewish Studies at Princeton University. She has served as Chair of the Department of Religion (2010–2019) and is currently Director of Princeton’s Program in Judaic Studies. She co-directs the International Center for Bible, Culture, and Modernity and collaborates on editorial projects including the Jewish Studies Quarterly.

Research Interests: Her work spans philosophy of religion, modern Jewish thought, hermeneutics, and contemporary legal/political theory, often engaging interdisciplinary dialogues between Jewish philosophy and Christian thought.

Notable Publications: Idolatry and Representation (2000), Leo Strauss and Emmanuel Levinas (2006), and How Judaism Became a Religion (2011). She is completing a biography of Ecclesiastes and co-editing the Princeton Companion to Jewish Studies.

• Scientific Awards: President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching (2002)