Joel Kaminsky, Co-Director, Jewish Studies
Professor of Religion/Biblical Literature
Wright Hall 126
(413) 585-3608
Office Hours Fall 2008: MW 2:30-3:20 and T TH F by appt
jkaminsk@smith.edu
http://sophia.smith.edu/~jkaminsk/

Professor Kaminsky teaches courses on the Hebrew Bible and on ancient Jewish Religion and Literature. He received his doctorate in 1993 from the University of Chicago and came to Smith in 1997 after previously teaching at a number of other institutions including: St. Olaf College , Muhlenberg College , and Loyola University of Chicago. His research interests include narrative and theological work on the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic Judaism.  Recent publications include:

Yet I Loved Jacob: Reclaiming the Biblical Concept of Election. Abingdon Press, September, 2007. The fact that the Jewish people are especially chosen by God is an idea affirmed by both early Christians and the ancient rabbis. However, the idea that God would favor one person or group over another is highly problematic in today's democratic and pluralistic society. Thus, the idea of Chosenness is often ignored or even repudiated by contemporary Christians and Jews. In his new book, Joel S. Kaminsky provides a clear and nuanced understanding of what the Bible really says about God's choosing. Beginning with the familiar stories in Genesis (Cain and Abel; Isaac and Ishmael; Jacob and Esau; Joseph and his brothers; but also Hagar and Sarah; Leah and Rachel; Isaac and Rebekah), Kaminsky shows how God chooses, how humans participate, and what we know from the Bible about God's intentions. The book maps out the Hebrew Bible's theology of election by asking about the fates of those whom God chooses to favor, those whom God rejects, and those who are neither favored nor rejected. Finally, Kaminsky shows how both the New Testament authors and the classical rabbis adopted the Hebrew Bible's view of God's election in unique but related ways. Understanding how each tradition sees itself as God's special people opens up new avenues for a deeper Jewish-Christian dialogue in the future.

"Loving One's Israelite Neighbor: Election and Commandment in Leviticus 19," Interpretation 62.2 (April 2008): 123-32.

"Attempting the Impossible: Eliminating Election from the Jewish Liturgy," Midstream (Jan.-Feb. 2005): 23-27. 

"Reclaiming a Theology of Election: Favoritism and the Joseph Story." Perspectives in Religious Studies 31.2 (Summer 2004): 135-152. 

"Did Election Imply the Mistreatment of Non-Israelites,?" Harvard Theological Review 96.4 (October 2003): 397-425.

"Violence in the Bible," Religious Studies News/SBL edition (June 2003).

"The Concept of Election and Second Isaiah: Recent Literature," Biblical Theology Bulletin 31.4 (Winter 2001): 135-144.

" Paradise Regained: Rabbinic Reflections on Israel at Sinai," in Jews, Christians, and the Theology of the Hebrew Scriptures edited by Bellis and Kaminsky, 15-43. (Atlanta: SBL, 2000).

"Humor and the Theology of Hope in Genesis: Isaac as a Humorous Figure," Interpretation 54.4 (October 2000): 363-375.

Corporate Responsibility in the Hebrew Bible  (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995).