Name Marc Shapiro | Role Author | |
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Education Harvard University, Brandeis University Books The Limits of Orthodox Theology, Between the yeshiva world and, Saul Lieberman and the O, Studies in Maimonides and His I | ||
Marc B. Shapiro (Hebrew: מלך שפירא, born 1966) is a professor and the author of various books and articles on Jewish history, philosophy, theology, and rabbinic literature.
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Education and career
Shapiro received his BA at Brandeis University and his PhD at Harvard University, where he was the last PhD student of Professor Isadore Twersky. He received rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Ephraim Greenblatt. Shapiro's father is Edward S. Shapiro, who has published books on American history and American Jewish history.
Shapiro holds the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Chair in Judaic Studies at the University of Scranton. Shapiro is an on-line lecturer for Torah in Motion, for which he also leads Jewish history tours to Europe. He often writes for the Seforim Blog.
Writing
Shapiro's writings often challenge the bounds of the conventional Orthodox understanding of Judaism using academic methodology while adhering to Modern Orthodox sensibilities. His book, Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy, a biography of Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, was a National Jewish Book Award finalist. His second book, The Limits of Orthodox Theology, argued against the conventional Orthodox belief that Maimonides Thirteen Principles of Faith are unquestionable dogma. Gidon Rothstein, writing in the Association for Jewish Studies Review, called the book's collection of sources "remarkable."
The book was criticized by some Hareidi Jews. Zev Leff, an American Hareidi rabbi, wrote that "I cannot recommend it to the general public, who can be easily misled by some of the questionable theses in this book."
In 2015, his book Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History was released. The book documents the phenomenon of internal censorship in Orthodoxy. Adam Ferziger said the book "is the outstanding product of a master of rabbinic literature and an extraordinarily sharp-eyed and meticulous scholar." Yair Hoffman, writing in the Hareidi online website Yeshiva World News, criticized the book, saying that "there is a plethora of material that simply should not have been included in the book because it does not back up his thesis." Ezra Glinter, writing in The Forward, praised Shapiro's "evenhanded, evidence-heavy approach" and that he was not a "polemicist," but said "his argument could also have benefited from a more critical thrust."