Moshe Blidstein
Religions of late antiquity
Ritual and discourse
Purity and defilement
Demonology
Biblical exegesis in late antiquity
Curriculum Vitae:
Education and Positions
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2014-2015 Postdoctoral fellow at the Martin Buber Society of Fellows at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem
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2013-2014 Junior Research Fellowship at the Deichmann Program for Jewish and Christian Literature of the Hellenistic-Roman Era at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheva, Israel.
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2011-2014 DPhil in Theology, University of Oxford. Dissertation title: ’All is Pure for the Pure’: Redefining Purity and Defilement in Early Greek Christianity, From Paul to Origen. Supervisor: Prof. Guy G. Stroumsa.
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2009-2010 MA in Religious Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Graduated with honors. Dissertation title: Vegetable Offerings in the Roman Empire.
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2006-2008 BA in General History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Graduated with honors.
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2000-2002, 2005 Talmudic Studies, Yeshivat Har Etzion.
Courses Taught
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2015 Religions in the Greek and Roman worlds (Hebrew University of Jerusalem).
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2014 Messaging God: ancient Jewish, Christian and pagan views on religious practice (Ben Gurion University of the Negev).
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2013 Ancient ritual theory (Mansfield College, University of Oxford).
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2011-2012 Anthropology of Classical religions (Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford).
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Jewish-Christian relations in the Roman Empire (Worcester College, University of Oxford).
Awards
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2014-2015 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Martin Buber Society of Fellows, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
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2013-2014 Junior Research Fellowship at the Deichmann Program for Jewish and Christian Literature of the Hellenistic-Roman Era at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
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2011-2013 Doctoral Studentship in the Study of the Abrahamic Religions (Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford).
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2009 Sternberg Prize for Interfaith Understanding (Department of Comparative Religion, Hebrew University of Jerusalem).
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2006 Merit scholarship for undergraduate studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Additional Academic Work Experience
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2012-2013 Research and editing for the volume Priests and Prophets among Pagans, Jews and Christians, edited by Beate Dignas, Robert Parker and Guy G. Stroumsa (Leuven: Peeters, 2013).
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2010-2013 Research assistant to Professor Guy G. Stroumsa.
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2008-2009 Editor and translator of academic publications for the Macro Center for Political Economics.
Languages
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Mother tongue: Hebrew, English;
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Reading: Greek, Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic, French, German.
Publications:
Books
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Associate Editor of The Oxford Handbook of the Abrahamic Religions, with Guy G. Stroumsa and Adam Silverstein. Oxford: Oxford University Press [forthcoming]
Journal articles and book chapters
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“Purity opposed: Christian Identity Formation in Third Century Polemics against Death Defilement”, Studia Patristica 63 (2013), pp. 373-84.
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Forthcoming
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“How Many Pigs were there on Noah’s Ark? An Exegetical Encounter on the Nature of Impurity”, Harvard Theological Review.
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“Purity and Defilement”, in The Oxford Handbook of the Abrahamic Religions, edited by Guy G. Stroumsa, Adam Silverstein and Moshe Blidstein. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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“Between Ritual and Moral Purity: Early Christian Views on Dietary Laws”, in Authoritative Texts and Reception History: Aspects and Approaches, edited by Dan Batovici and Kristin De Troyer. Biblical Interpretation Series. Brill.
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“Demons and Pollution: Greek, Jewish and Christian Models”, Kernos Supplements, Proceedings of the 14th conference of the Centre international d'étude de la religion grecque antique.
Translations
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Translation into Hebrew of Guy G. Stroumsa, The End of Sacrifice: Religious Transformations in Late Antiquity (קץ עידן הקורבנות: תמורות דתיות בשלהי העת העתיקה, ירושלים: מאגנס, 2013).
Other
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Thinking Bible, a 30-lesson online course on the Book of Judges for Yeshivat Har Etzion’s online study program, 2005.
Papers delivered
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“Deed and Word in Late Ancient Christian and Jewish Biblical Exegesis”, European Association of Jewish Studies Conference, Paris, July 2014.
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“Behind the Temple: The Form and Function of Back Rooms in Ancient Sanctuaries”, Conference of the Israeli Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies, Beersheva, May 2014.
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“Demons and Pollution: Greek, Jewish and Christian Models”, 14th conference of the Centre international d'étude de la religion grecque antique, Liège, October 2013.
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“Asceticism and Identity: Perspectives from Early Christian Discourse on Purity and Defilement”, Interdisciplinary Seminar for the Study of Religion, University of Oxford, Hilary Term, 2013.
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“Purifying Purity: Approaches to the Problem of Embodiment in Early Christian Discussions of Purity Laws”, Conference of the European Society for the Study of Religion, Utrecht, August 2012.
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“Perceptions of Space and Death Defilement in Early Christianity”, Society of Biblical Literature International Meeting, Amsterdam, July 2012.
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“How Many Pigs were there on Noah’s Ark? An Exegetical Encounter in Eighth Century Syria”, Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference, April 2012.
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“Purity opposed: Christian Identity Formation in Third Century Polemics Against Death Defilement”, 16th International Conference of Patristics, Oxford, August 2011.
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“Vegetal offerings in the Roman Empire: A New Look at the End of Sacrifice”, Society of Biblical Literature International Meeting, London, July 2011.
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“Between Ritual and Moral Purity: Early Christian Views on Dietary Laws,” The St. Andrews Graduate Conference for Biblical and Early Christian Studies: Authoritative Texts and Reception History, June 2011.
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“Visions of Purity: Porphyry and Julian on Religious Elites”, Graduate Workshop of the Princeton-Oxford Project, Oxford, January 2011.
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“Vegetable Offerings in the Roman Empire”, Graduate Seminar of the Department of Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, February 2010.