10
A
s an expert in kabbalah and gender studies who
brings the perspective of modern Orthodox Ju-
daism, Dr. Sharon Koren has created a unique place
for herself on HUC-JIR’s pluralistic faculty. She is the worthy
inaugural holder of the Dr. Norman J. Cohen Chair for an
Emerging Scholar.
Associated with the faculty since 2001, Dr. Koren is Associ-
ate Professor of Medieval Jewish Culture at HUC-JIR/New
York. She received her Ph.D. (1999) and M.A. (1991) from
Yale University. She recently published
The Menstruant in Medieval Jewish Mysti-
cism
(
Brandeis University Press) and is
currently conducting research for a book
on the Matriarchs in the Zohar. In addi-
tion to her extensive writings and papers presented at
conferences, Dr. Koren has served as an academic consult-
ant for an NEH-funded television series relating to the
subjects of mysticism and monotheism.
“
There is something extremely special about teaching
HUC-JIR students and about teaching texts in a seminary,
where not only do the students have the ability to read
the texts in the original language, but also truly care
about their contents,” she says. “What we teach here
Dr. Sharon F. Koren
Dr. Norman J. Cohen Chair
for an Emerging Scholar
Rabbi Joshua Garroway, C ’03, Ph.D.
Rabbi Michael Matuson Professorship for an Emerging Scholar
D
r. Joshua Garroway first
came to HUC-JIR as a
rabbinical student in
Cincinnati and returned to serve
as a member of the faculty at
the Jack H. Skirball Campus
in Los Angeles. As Assistant
Professor of Early Christianity
and Second Commonwealth,
his scholarly interests include
Jewish identity in the ancient
world, the origins of Christian-
ity, Jewish-Christian relations in
late antiquity, and postmodern
historiography.
Originally from Rochester, New York, Joshua Garroway gradu-
ated
summa cum laude
from Duke University (1998) with an
A.B. in Religion. Following ordination, he earned his Ph.D.
in New Testament Studies at Yale University (2008). His
dissertation, “Neither Jew Nor Gentile, But Both: Paul’s Chris-
tians As ‘Gentile-Jews,’” explored the ways in which Paul’s
epistle to the Romans constructs Jewish identity, and the role
of Paul’s discourse in the ensuing emergence of Christianity.
“
The expression of confidence in my scholarship and
teaching reflected in my appointment to the Matuson Pro-
fessorship makes me all the more excited about the future,”
says Rabbi Garroway. “It is humbling to be a part of the able
junior faculty, which, I am delighted to say, now includes my
wife Kristine Garroway.”
Since arriving at the Jack H. Skirball Campus in Los Angeles
in 2008, Rabbi Garroway has taught introductory courses in
Mishnah, Midrash, and Christianity, and electives examining
the emergence of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism in the
first five centuries. He also teaches undergraduate courses in
Jewish history and biblical literature for HUC-JIR’s Louchheim
School, in partnership with the University of Southern California.
The Rabbi Michael Matuson Professorship for an Emerging
Scholar was inaugurated at HUC-JIR/Cincinnati in 2003 by
Cynthia G. and Dan Edelman, in honor of Rabbi Michael
Matuson, C ’ 84. Dr. Garroway succeeds Dr. Jonathan Cohen,
Dean and Associate Professor of Talmud and Halachic Litera-
ture, in holding the Matuson Professorship.
