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Alyssa Gray

Associate Professor of Codes and Responsa Literature
Alyssa Gray, J.D., Ph.D., was appointed Instructor of Codes and Responsa Literature in July, 2000, Assistant Professor in January, 2001, and Associate Professor of Codes and Responsa Literature in July, 2007. She received her Ph.D. in Talmud and Rabbinics from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and also holds an LL.M. in Mishpat Ivri (Jewish Law) from the Hebrew University Faculty of Law. Prior to pursuing her advanced studies in rabbinic literature and Jewish law, she was associated with Davis Polk & Wardwell, where she practiced law as a commercial litigator. She also graduated from Barnard College (magna cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa), the Jewish Theological Seminary (Seminary College, now List College), and the Columbia University School of Law.
Dr. Gray has written on a number of topics, notably martyrdom in the Palestinian Talmud, the redactions of the Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds, the relationship of halakhah and law, treatments of sexuality in the Babylonian Talmud and medieval halakhic works, liturgy, and the medieval halakhic texts concerning women as givers of tsedaqah. She is also a contributor to the New Encyclopedia Judaica. Her interests include the history and development of Talmudic literature, the history of the halakhah, and Jewish law and contemporary legal theory. Dr. Gray has been invited to speak in a variety of academic and non-academic settings in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Latin America, including Yale University, the University of Chicago, Williams College, New York University, Florida Atlantic University, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Freehof Institute for Progressive Halakhah, Limmud UK, the Union for Reform Judaism, and the World Union for Progressive Judaism, as well as numerous synagogue settings. Her first book, A Talmud in Exile: The Influence of Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah on the Formation of Bavli Avodah Zarah (Providence, RI: Brown Judaic Studies, 2005), was recently published by Brown Judaic Studies. She is currently working on a book about wealth and poverty in classical rabbinic literature.
Dr. Gray is active in the profession, serving on the editorial board of the Hebrew Union College Annual, as a sub-editor for Judaism at Religious Studies Review, and on the board of the Women's Caucus of the Association for Jewish Studies.
Publications
- Book
- A Talmud in Exile: The Influence of Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah on the Formation of Bavli Avodah Zarah (Providence,
RI: Brown Judaic Studies, [Brown University, 2005])
(order online from amazon.com)
- Articles and Book Chapters
- "Halacha and Law." Co-authored with Bernard Jackson, Berachyahu Lifshitz, and Daniel B. Sinclair. Included in the edited
volume The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)
- "A Contribution to the Study of Martyrdom and Identity in the Palestinian Talmud," Journal of Jewish Studies
54:2 (Autumn 2003): 242-272
- "Is Critical Rabbinic Biography Possible?" Review, Prooftexts 23:3 (Fall 2003): 376-382
- "The Power Conferred By Distance From Power: Redaction and Meaning in b. AZ 10a-11a." Included in Creation and
Composition: The Contribution of the Bavli Redactors (Stammaim) to the Aggadah, ed. Jeffrey L. Rubenstein (Tubingen: Mohr
Siebeck [2005])
- "A Bavli Sugya and Its Two Yerushalmi Parallels: Issues of Literary Relationship and Redaction." Included in
How Should Rabbinic Literature be Read in the Modern World?, ed. Matthew A. Kraus (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2006).
- "The Ministering Angels Told Me: Bavli Nedarim 20a-b and Its Medieval Interpreters." Included in Sexual Issues
in Jewish Law: Essays and Responsa, ed. Walter Jacob with Moshe Zemer (Pittsburgh, PA: Rodef Shalom Press, 2006).
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