DR. EITAN FISHBANE APPOINTED ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF JEWISH RELIGIOUS THOUGHT AT HEBREW UNION COLLEGE-JEWISH INSTITUTE OF RELIGION/ LOS ANGELES

Rabbi David Ellenson, President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, has announced the appointment of Dr. Eitan Fishbane as Assistant Professor of Jewish Religious Thought at HUC-JIR/Los Angeles. “We are pleased to welcome Professor Fishbane as the first faculty appointment in the area of Jewish mysticism in this institution's history. Dr. Fishbane is renowned for his scholarship and teaching, which will enrich our learning community of students and faculty,” stated Rabbi Ellenson.

Dr. Fishbane received his Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University, where he wrote his dissertation on "Contemplative Practice and the Transmission of Kabbalah: A Study of Isaac of Acre's Me'irat 'Einayim." His research focused on Jewish Mystical Literature and Thought. He also received his B.A. from the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University, where he graduated summa cum laude.

Dr. Fishbane has served as Visiting Instructor in Religion at Carleton College. He was a Teaching Fellow at Brandeis University for the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from 1997-2000 where he taught on various topics including Jewish Thought, Hasidism, Christianity, and Jewish Mysticism. His areas of expertise cover Jewish Mysticism as well as the history of Jewish Thought from ancient to modern times.

Among his numerous awards, he has been honored most recently with the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture Fellowship Award as well as the Eugene Franzblau Doctoral Fellowship and the Ruth Ann Perlmutter Doctoral Fellowship from Brandeis University.

Fishbane has lectured and given presentations to such college and universities as Carleton College, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, HUC-JIR/Cincinnati, and Hebrew University. His most recent presentation was this past winter at the 34th Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies in Los Angeles, California where he discussed the "Philosophical and Contemplative Dimensions of Medieval Jewish Mysticism."