By Evelyn Herwitz
Ever since biblical times,
geshem has been the Hebrew word for rain. But in the medieval period, the same root—
—took on another sense that recalls a world shared by two peoples. In seeking a new word that captured the philosophical idea of corporeality, Jews infused
geshem with a new connotation, drawing from the similar-sounding Arabic cognate
jism, meaning "body." Thus the sentence "God is not
geshem" does not mean, "God is not rain"; it means, "God is incorporeal."
Such interconnections between the language and literature of Judaism and Islam, particularly as they spread from ancient Middle Eastern roots to flower in medieval Spain, are a source of endless fascination for Dr. Jonathan Decter
P'88, who last fall joined the faculty of Brandeis University as Assistant Professor of Sephardic Studies on the Edmond J. Safra Chair in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. One of a new generation of Hebrew College alumni who are advancing Jewish scholarship, Decter joins a roster of distinguished academics that began with Walter Ackerman,
z'l, P'43, BJEd'50, MHL'54, HD'87; Arnold Band
P'45, BJEd'49, MHL'51, HD'87; Isador Twersky,
z'l, P'44, HC'48, MHL'51; and David Weinstein,
z'l, P'44, HC'50, MHL'53—the eminent quartet of noted scholars and educators who began their careers as the College's first teaching fellows.
Sitting in his Brandeis office, surrounded by shelves a-jumble with texts ranging from
Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol to
The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an and
A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy, Decter shares his passion for tracing Islamic and Jewish linkages. "I wanted to learn how exposure to Arabic culture sharpened, refined and transformed Jewish culture," he says.
In pursuit of answers, Decter has lived in an Arabic village in the Galilee, immersed himself in Arabic studies in Cairo and earned a doctorate in medieval Jewish studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York. Fluent in Hebrew and Arabic, literate in Spanish, he now specializes in the history, literature and intellectual traditions of the Jewish experience as influenced by Islam, from point of cultural intersection in medieval Spain through evolution in the Sephardic Diaspora—the Ottoman Empire, North Africa, Western Europe and the Americas.
Decter's love of medieval Jewish history was inflamed when he took a course in Jewish mysticism while an undergraduate at Oberlin College. But his curiosity about the world of medieval Jewish philosophy was initially piqued when he was a high school student—albeit a reluctant one—at the Hebrew College Prozdor in the mid-1980s. Recalling those years with a self-deprecating smile, Decter confides, "I was not the ideal student. I skipped class." Even still, he says, "I have a very vivid memory of our teacher Davin Wolok discussing Saadiah Gaon's theory of time. I was intrigued with the way that Jewish philosophy engaged ideas dating back to classical philosophy."
That spark—a sense of connection—was fanned at Camp Yavneh. A camper and later a counselor during the 1980s, Decter developed lifelong friendships. In that supportive social environment, he "genuinely liked class," particularly with popular instructor Rabbi Mel David, whom Decter recalls as "very learned and open to many types of Judaism, very accepting."
As a religion major at Oberlin, Decter grew into the role of student, and his intellectual curiosity took hold. A course in Jewish mysticism led to a course in Islam, junior year abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a burgeoning passion for the Hebrew and Arabic languages and medieval Hebrew and Arabic literature and philosophy. After graduating with a BA-High Honors in Religion in 1993, he took a year off from academia, working as a research assistant at the National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis. But he kept up with his Arabic studies, compelled by both a love for the language and political motivations. "I was hopeful for a reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians," he says.
"I wanted to learn how exposure to Arabic
culture sharpened, refined and transformed
Jewish culture."
Entering JTS's PhD program in Medieval Jewish Studies in 1994, Decter had an opportunity to try to bridge the two cultures as a graduate student. Spending the summer of 1996 volunteering in Nahef, an economically depressed Arabic village in the Galilee, he immersed himself in the Arabic language and community. "I was the only foreigner living there," Decter says. "I knew enough Arabic to get by and learned first-hand about the Arab lifestyle in Israel—their traditions, weddings, mourning rituals, the living Arabic poetic tradition. It was a fascinating experience."
The nature and interplay of culture, religion and language, within and across Judaism and Islam, was at the heart of Decter's doctoral studies. "I was interested in the ways that Judaism was shaped during this period of engagement with Islam," he says. For example, Decter explains, the Jewish encounter with the Arabic speaking world opened a new literary chapter in which Hebrew sacred and secular poems were infused with the spirit and style of Arabic literature. Due to both religious competition and acculturation, biblical Hebrew was elevated to an unprecedented status for its exemplary eloquence, similar to the standing of qur'anic Arabic in Islam. Also, medieval Jews did not have a full awareness of the origins and systems of Hebrew grammar. "When they investigated the Arabic system of three-letter roots, Jews could graft that theory onto their understanding of their own language," he says. "That encounter revolutionized knowledge of Hebrew grammar."
The Hebrew lexicon expanded as well during this period. Whereas early medieval Jewish writing was confined
to the limited vocabulary of biblical and rabbinic Hebrew, Decter notes that the encounter with Islam sparked an explosion in the development of the Hebrew language to express concepts in secular subjects such as medicine and astronomy. The biblical Hebraic style was reserved for poetry and literature, but new words were developed during this period, some derived from Arabic forms, that are still in use today.
Decter's knowledge of Arabic deepened during a yearlong stay in Egypt, from 1997–1998, as a fellow at the Center for Arabic Studies Abroad at the American University in Cairo. The intensive Arabic immersion program included coursework in medieval Arabic poetry, Islamic philosophy, Qur'an, modern Arabic literature and language. By the end of his stay, he had achieved near-native fluency on the Foreign Service Exam. Back at JTS, Decter continued his studies of medieval Jewish literature, philosophy and history, mentored by Dr. Raymond P. Scheindlin. While working on his dissertation,
A Myrtle in the Forest: Displacement and Renewal in Medieval Hispano-Jewish Literature, he spent a year as the Hazel D. Cole Fellow in Jewish Studies at the University of Washington; he also won a Fulbright Student Fellowship for study in Israel from 2000–2001.
Now settled into his second year on the Brandeis faculty, Decter is immersed in research on translation theory—how Jewish authors in medieval Spain and Provence rendered quotations from the Qur'an into Hebrew when translating Arabic books into Hebrew. Sometimes translators substituted quotations from the Bible for quotations from the Qur'an, and praise for Moses in place of praise for Muhammad. "They recast one cultural discourse into another, perhaps as an attempt to elevate the status of the Hebrew language," he says. At other times, however, translators rendered quotations from the Qur'an literally. "There was apparently some value in having a Jewish audience read excerpts from the Muslim holy book in Hebrew," adds Decter.
His two fall course offerings include an analysis of conflict and cooperation among Jews, Christians and Muslims in medieval Spain as well as a review of medieval Jewish philosophy. The historical survey course begins with the writings of the same Jewish philosopher who first intrigued Decter—Saadiah Gaon.
Given the up-and-coming professor's own career path, Decter's students would do well not to miss that lecture.
Jonathan is not the only member of the Decter family with Hebrew College connections. His father, David, is a Yavneh board member and 1998 Me'ah graduate. Brother Adam and sister-in-law Marjorie Ross are both Prozdor graduates of the class of 1988.
Photograph by Mike Lovett
A Legacy of Jewish Scholarship
Many Hebrew College alumni are distinguished Jewish studies scholars. Among them:
Dr. Arnold Band P'45, BJEd'49, MHL'51, HD'87, Professor Emeritus of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at UCLA
Dr. Yael S. Feldman MHL'76, Abraham I. Katsh Professor of Hebrew Culture at New York University
Dr. Michael Fishbane P'60, BJEd'64, Nathan Cummings Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Chicago
Dr. Eric L. Friedland P'56 HC'60, Sanders Professor Emeritus of Judaic Studies at Antioch College, University of Dayton, United Theological Seminary and Wright State University (consortium)
Dr. William Hallo P'48, William M. Laffan Professor Emeritus of Assyriology and Babylonian Literature and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University
Dr. Samuel Heilman P'63, Harold M. Proshansky Professor in Jewish Studies and Sociology at the City University of New York
Dr. Paula Hyman P'63, BJEd'66, Lucy Moses Professor of Modern Jewish History at Yale University
Dr. Carol K. Ingall P'56, Dr. Bernard Heller Associate Professor of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary
Dr. Anne Lapidus Lerner P'59, BJEd'62, MHL'64, Assistant Professor of Jewish Literature and Director of the Jewish Women's Studies program at the Jewish Theological Seminary
Dr. Samuel Paley P'58, Professor of Classics and Director of the Judaic Studies Program at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York
Dr. Jonathan Sarna P'70, BHL'74, Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University
Dr. Ilan Troen P'58, BJEd'62, Lopin Professor of Modern History and Chairman of the Department of History at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Karl, Harry and Helen Stoll Chair in Israel Studies at Brandeis University
Have we missed you? Please tell us about your academic appointments in fields related to Jewish studies and Jewish education. Email: sfinkel@hebrewcollege.edu |
