معرفی
Roles & Affiliations: Associate Professor in the Department of Religion, and affiliated with the Programs in Medieval Studies, Classics, and Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Holder of the Conrad Humanities Scholar title (2021–2026).
Education: Ph.D. (with distinction) in History of Judaism from the University of Chicago Divinity School (2011), M.A. in Modern Jewish History (Yeshiva University, 1999), and B.A. in Political Science (Yeshiva University, 1995).
Research Interests: Weiss specializes in rabbinic theology, biblical interpretation, and medieval Jewish thought. His work bridges classical Jewish texts with broader religious and intellectual histories, focusing on themes like divine confrontation, afterlife concepts, and inter-religious polemics. His award-winning book Pious Irreverence redefined scholarly understanding of rabbinic-Jewish theological dynamics.
Publications & Awards: Recipient of the National Jewish Book Award (2017), NEH grants, and fellowships from Harvard and the University of Chicago. His recent work explores medieval Jewish mysticism, Cyril of Alexandria’s critiques of Jewish thought, and midrashic narrative techniques.
Teaching: Instructs courses on world religions, Jewish intellectual history, rabbinic midrash, and interfaith encounters. Courses include REL 120: History of Judaism and REL 418: Afterlife in Ancient Judaism.
