עברית
Head of Cramim Jewish Studies Honors Program

Prof. Tova Ganzel

Telephone
053-3342037
Email
tova.ganzel@biu.ac.il
Office
Office: 410 room: 202
Fields of Interest

Tova Ganzel's work is mainly on the Hebrew Bible in the context of the larger ancient Near Eastern world. Her recent research focuses on the prophetic literature, ancient Near Eastern temples and second temple texts. In addition, she occasionally publishes on Jewish reception of biblical criticism from the eighteenth century to the present and on women as Halakhic Professionals.

Reception Hours
By Appointment
Personal Website
https://biu.academia.edu/TovaGanzel
CV

Tova Ganzel, PhD (2005), Bar-Ilan University Israel, is Senior Lecturer at the Multidisciplinary Department of Jewish Studies at the University and Head of Cramim Jewish Studies Honors Program. Her broad area of interest is prophetic literature in the context of the larger ancient Near Eastern world. She has published on Joel, Haggai, Isaiah with a specialization on the book of Ezekiel. Tova was the Director of the Midrasha at Bar-Ilan University and is one the first trained women’s halakhic advisors (Yoatzot Halacha). Her Books Destruction and Restoration in the Seer’s Prophecy: Studies in the Prophecies of Ezekiel was published in 2012 [Hebrew] and 2020 [English] and Ezekiel’s Visionary Temple in Babylonian Context, De Gruyter (BZAW 539) was recently published (September 2021). Her recent research focuses on the prophetic literature, ancient Near Eastern temples and Second Temple Period texts, specifically on Ezekiel's temple vision in its Neo-Babylonian context. In addition, she has also engaged the issue of the Jewish reception of biblical criticism and addressed various aspects of this topic, from the eighteenth century to the present, in a number of studies, and was the primary editor of The Believer and the Modern Study of the Bible, edited by Tova Ganzel, Yehudah Brandes, and Chayuta Deutsch, Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2019.  Expanded version: Jerusalem: Beit Morasha, 2015, 2016 (second edition) [Hebrew]. 


HIGHER EDUCATION
2005 PhD, Department of Bible, Bar-Ilan University
Dissertation Title: “The Concept of Holiness in the Book of Ezekiel”
Advisor: Prof. Rimon Kasher
1999 Nishmat Keren Ariel Program for Women Halachic Advisors and Talmudic and Halakhic Study, The Nishmat Institute: Jerusalem Center for Advanced Jewish Study for Women
1998 M.A., Department of Bible, Bar-Ilan University (combined B.A./M.A. program, direct MA program)
B.A., Departments of Bible and Philosophy, Bar-Ilan University
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2020 - Senior Lecture, The Multidisciplinary Department of Jewish Studies,
Bar-Ilan University, Head of Cramim Jewish Studies Honors Program
2013–2019 Director, The Advanced Women’s Institute for Jewish Scholarship and
Learning, Bar-Ilan University
2012–2013 Tikvah Fellow, New York
2012– 2019 Teacher B (equivalent to Senior Lecture), Bar-Ilan University
2010–2012 Deputy Director, The Advanced Women’s Institute for Jewish
Scholarship and Learning, Bar-Ilan University
2008–2012 Teacher C (equivalent to Lecturer), Bar-Ilan University
Lecturer, Herzog College, Alon-Shvut
OTHER ACTIVITY
1998–2004 Lecturer, Nishmat: Jerusalem Center for Advanced Jewish Study
RESEARCH GRANTS
1998 Rector’s Award for Academic Excellence—M.A. students, Bar-Ilan University
2000–2005 President’s Grant for Outstanding Doctoral Students, Bar-Ilan University
2007 Keren Ariel Research Grant for writing, Nishmat: Jerusalem Center for Advanced Jewish Study
2009 Research Grant, The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, New York
2009 Keren Ihal, Bar-Ilan University
2010 Hadassah–Brandeis Institute Award: Concerns of Women who Observe Taharat Hamishpaha: Medical, Emotional, Halakhic and Spiritual
2011 Israel Ministry of Science Research Grant: Medical Concerns of Women Who Observe Menstrual Purity Laws (Taharat Hamishpaha)
Febuary 2021
2011 Rector's Outstanding Teaching Award, Bar-Ilan University
2012 Rector's Award for Research
2012 Beit Shalom Grant, Bar-Ilan University
2013 Research Grant, The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture: Uncovering Ezekiel’s Unique Theological Stance: A Thematic-Linguistic Analysis
2013 Keren Ihal, Bar-Ilan University: Halakhic Rulings on Family Purity: Between Private and Public Spheres
2015–2018 Israel Science Foundation (ISF): Ezekiel's Visionary Temple in Babylonian Context
2017 Israel Science Foundation (ISF): Contextualizing Jewish Temples, Workshop Grant
2019 Targum Shlishi, A Raquel and Aryeh Rubin Foundation Grant for the English Publication of The Believer and the Modern Study of the Bible

Research
  • The Hebrew Bible in the context of the larger ancient Near Eastern world, the prophetic literature, ancient Near Eastern temples and second temple texts.
  • Jewish reception of biblical criticism from the eighteenth century to the present.
  • Women as Halakhic Professionals.
Courses

Course (in English): Turning Points in Jewish Identity

Publications

ספרים

Tova Ganzel. Destruction and Restoration in the Seer’s Prophecy: Studies in the Prophecies of Ezekiel. Alon Shvut: Tevunot-Herzog, 2012 [Hebrew].

 

  • Ezekiel: From Destruction to Restoration. Jerusalem: Maggid, 2020. (Expanded version of the Hebrew Destruction and Restoration)

 

Tova Ganzel. Ezekiel’s Visionary Temple in Babylonian Context. BZAW 539. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110740844

                       

ספרים כעורכת                                                                                       Books as editor

Tova Ganzel, Yehudah Brandes, and Chayuta Deutsch, eds. The Believer and the Modern Study of the Bible. Jerusalem: Beit Morasha, 2015, 2016 (second edition) [Hebrew]; In English: Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2019. (Academic, English)        

 

Tova Ganzel and Shalom E. Holtz, eds. Contextualizing Jewish Temples: Opportunities and Challenges. Leiden: Brill Reference Library of Judaism, 2020. (232 pages) https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004444799

     

 

מאמרים ופרקים בספרים                                                               Articles and Chapters in Books

  1. Tova Ganzel. “The Transformation of Pentateuchal Descriptions of Idolatry.” In Transforming Visions: Transformations of Text, Tradition, and Theology in Ezekiel, edited by William A. Tooman and Michael A. Lyons, 33–49. Princeton Theological Monograph Series 127. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2009.

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “Ha-Posek, Ha-Rav, Ve-Ha-Yoetzet.” In Rabbis and Rabbinate: The Challenge, edited by Yededia Z. Stern and Shuki Friedman, 2:611–25. Jerusalem: The Israel Democracy Institute, 2011 [Hebrew].

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “‘He Who Restrains His Lips Is Wise’ (Proverbs 10:19): Is That Really True?.” In Jewish Thought and Jewish Belief (= The Goldstein-Goren Library of Jewish Thought 15), edited by Daniel J. Lasker, 129–41. Beer Sheva: Ben Gurion University of the Negev, 2012 [Hebrew].

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “God’s Name in Ezekiel.” In Zer Rimonim: Studies in Biblical Literature and Jewish Exegesis Presented to Professor Rimon Kasher, edited by Michael Avioz, Elie Assis, and Yael Shemesh, 206–19. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2013 [Hebrew].

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “Ezekiel.” In The Jewish Study Bible, edited by Marc Brettler and Adele Berlin, 1033–1123. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “Between the Prophet and His Prophecy.” In The Believer and the Modern Study of the Bible, edited by Tova Ganzel, Yehudah Brandes, and Chayuta Deutsch, 463–80.  Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2019. An expanded version is found in the Hebrew edition: Jerusalem: Beit Morasha, 2015, 2016 (second edition), pp. 425–38.

 

  1. Tova Ganzel and Risa Levitt-Kohen. “Ezekielʼs Prophetic Message in Light of Leviticus 26.” In The Formation of the Pentateuch: Bridging the Academic Cultures of Europe, Israel, and North America, edited by Jan C. Gertz, Bernard M. Levinson, and Dalit Rom-Shiloni, 1069–78. Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016.

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “The Reworking of Ezekiel’s Temple Vision in the Temple Scroll.” In Law, Literature, and Society in Legal Texts from Qumran: Papers from the Ninth Meeting of the International Organization of Qumran Studies, Leuven 2016, edited by Jutta Jokiranta and Molly Zahn, 230–452. Leiden: Brill, 2019.

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “Priests, Levites, and the Nasi: New Roles in Ezekiel’s Future Temple.” In The Oxford Handbook of Ezekiel, edited by Corrine L. Carvalho (online publication). New York: Oxford, 2020.  10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190634513.013.8

 

 

מאמרים בכתבי עת                                                                                 Articles in periodicals

  1. Tova Ganzel. “The Purification of the People in Ezekiel: The Pentateuchal Background.” Beit Mikra 53 (2008): 47–58 [Hebrew].  https://www.jstor.org/stable/23510758

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “The Defilement and Desecration of the Temple in Ezekiel.” Biblica 89 (2008): 369–79.  http://www.jstor.org/stable/42614841

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “The Status of Functionaries in the Future Temple of Ezekiel.” Shnaton: An Annual for Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies 19 (2009): 11–25 [Hebrew]. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23414235 

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “The Descriptions of the Restoration of Israel in Ezekiel.” Vetus Testamentum 60 (2010): 197–211. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853310X489098

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “The Fast of Gedaliah: Its Continued Observance and Significance in the Restoration Period.” Shnaton: An Annual for Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies 20 (2010): 51–69 [Hebrew].  https://www.jstor.org/stable/23412698

 

  1. Tova Ganzel and Deena Zimmerman. “Ethical Issues in the Use of Hormonal Intervention for Religious Concerns.” Nashim 21 (Spring 2011): 114–29. https://doi.org/10.2979/nashim.21.114

 

  1. Tova Ganzel and Deena Zimmerman. “Women as Halakhic Professionals: The Role of Yo’atzot Halakha.” Nashim 22 (Fall 2011): 162–71. https://doi.org/10.2979/nashim.22.162

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “The Prophecies of Joel: A Bridge between Ezekiel and Haggai.” Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 11 (2011): 1–22. Translated and published in Hungarian by Xaver Szabo in a volume of collection of studies on prophecy in the biblical world, 2017.   DOI: 10.5508/jhs.2011.v11.a6   

 

  1. 9. Tova Ganzel. “Explicit and Implicit Polemics in Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch’s Torah Commentary.” HUCA 81 (2013): 171–91.  http://www.jstor.org/stable/23509956

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “Ezekiel’s Restoration Oracles: A Terminological Consideration.” Beit Mikra 58 (2013): 62–74 [Hebrew].  https://www.jstor.org/stable/23790478

 

  1. 11. Tova Ganzel and Shalom E. Holtz. “Ezekiel’s Temple in Babylonian Context.” Vetus Testamentum 64 (2014): 211–26. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685330-12341148

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “Isaiah’s Critique of Shebna’s Trespass: A Reconsideration of Isa 22:15–25.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 39, no. 4 (2015): 469–87.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0309089215590360  

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “A Note on the Meaning of Ḥamas in Ezekiel.” Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament: An International Journal of Nordic Theology 29 (2015): 197–203. https://doi.org/10.1080/09018328.2015.1039826 

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “And the Name of the City from That Day On: ‘YHWH is There’ (Ezek. 48:35): A New Interpretation.” Vetus Testamentum 70 (2019): 1–8.

https://do.org/10.1163/15685330-12341396

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “‘The Rabbis Sought to Withdraw the Book of Ezekiel’: The Rabbinic Re-Authorization of the Book of Ezekiel.” Journal of Ancient Judaism 11 (2020): 1–20. https://doi:10.30965/21967954-12340009

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “First-Month Rituals in Ezekiel’s Temple Vision: A Pentateuchal and Babylonian Comparison.” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 83, no. 3 (2021): 390–406. https://doi.org/10.1353/cbq.2021.0081

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “Ceremonial Celebrations Outside the Temple Compound in Ezra-Nehemiah in Babylonian Ritual Context.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament (December 2021): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/03090892211032266

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “Ezekiel's Nonverbal Language as Prophetic Message.” Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 134, no. 2 (2022): 179–92. https://doi.org/10.1515/zaw-2022-2002

 

  1. Tova Ganzel. “The Influence of Mendelssohn’s Commentary on Qohelet on Nineteenth-century Orthodox Jewish Commentators in Eastern and Western Europe.” Hebrew Union College Annual) 2022(: 207–225. DOI: 10.15650/hebruniocollannu.92.5

 

  1. Tova Ganzel and Elie Fisher. “A Glimpse of Rabbi David Zvi Hoffmann’s Methods as a Decisor of Halakhah” [Hebrew]. Jewish Studies Internet Journal) 2022(: 22.  

     A https://jewish-faculty.biu.ac.il/files/jewish-faculty/shared/JSIJ22/ganzel_fischer.pdf

 

  1. Tova Ganzel and Elie Fisher. “Rabbi David Zvi Hoffmann’s position on Sesame Oil—A Diachronic Study in Light of New Sources.” Oqimta 9 (2023). [Hebrew].  

http://www.oqimta.org.il/english/MainPage.aspx    

 

  1. Tova Ganzel and Shalom E. Holtz. “Daniel 3 and 5 As Historiography.” Biblica 103/4 (2022): 525-535. DOI: 10.2143/BIB.103.4.3291466  

 

  1. Tova Ganzel, “Ezra the Scribe-Priest against the Backdrop of Babylonian Temple Officials.” Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society 36 (2023): 1-14.

https://janes.scholasticahq.com/article/75250-ezra-the-scribe-priest-against-the-backdrop-of-babylonian-temple-officials

 

 

בקורת ספרים בכתבי עת                                   Reviews of Books in periodical

Stephen L. Cook, Ezekiel 38–48. The Anchor Bible 22B. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018. In Review of Biblical Literature (2020).

 

John F. Evans, You Shall Know that I Am Yahweh: An Inner-Biblical Interpretation of Ezekiel’s Recognition Formula, BBRSup 25, University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns, 2019. In Review of Biblical Literature (2021).

 

ערכים באנציקלופדיות                                                   Entries in Encyclopedias

Tova Ganzel. “Law in the Prophets.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Bible & Law (OEBL), editor in chief: Brent Strawn, 479–87. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Tova Ganzel. “Ezekiel.” In Routledge Dictionary of Ancient Mediterranean Religions (RDAMR), edited by Eric Orlin et al, 332. New York: Routledge, 2015.

Tova Ganzel. “Ezekiel, Book of” and “Joel.” In the Hebrew Encyclopedia (accepted for publication).

 

Halakhic papers                                                                                                       מאמרים הלכתיים

 

  1. Tova Ganzel and Deena Zimmerman. “‘Veset-Haguf’: A Halachic and Medical Approach.” Tehumin 20, edited by Uri Dasberg et al., 363–75. Jerusalem, 2000 [Hebrew].
  2. Tova Ganzel and Deena Zimmerman. “Halakhic Infertility.” Asia 85–86 (2009): 63–82 [Hebrew].
  3. Tova Ganzel, Tirza Kelman, and Deena Zimmerman. “Continuing Research on Halakhic Infertility.” Asia 91–92 (2012): 53–65 [Hebrew].
  4. Tova Ganzel and Deena Zimmerman. “Halakhic and Ethical Issues in the Use of Hormonal Intervention for Religious Concerns.” TZOHAR 39 (2016): 165–79 [Hebrew].
  5. Tova Ganzel. “Hatzitza in Long, Polished and Gel/Acrylic Fingernails.” Tehumin 35, edited by Israel Rozen et al., 300–311. Jerusalem, 2015 [Hebrew].

 

 

Last Updated Date : 04/06/2024