Dr. Shraga Bick

Department of Comparative Religion

Research subject: "Keep the Commandments": the construction of "the Commandments" and their role in forming social identity in Christianity and Judaism in late antiquity.

Supervisor: Prof. Brouria Bitton-Ashkelony

Abstract: In my dissertation I intend to examine the ways in which the discourse on the Commandments ("mitzvot") functions as a tool in the attempt to reshape religious communities in the Jewish-Christian space of late antiquity. During this period, different communities continue to insist on keeping and practicing in one form or another the "Commandments", but often without a clear definition of the meaning and scope of this term. At the same time, the concept of the "Commandments", serves as a polemical tool in both Christian and Jewish texts, but even there it is difficult to find a clear and unequivocal definition. In my dissertation I will seek to trace the ways in which this category is used to reconstruct the religious discourse and practice in late antiquity.

Bio: I hold a M.A in Comparative Religion (summa cum laude) and a B.A in Law and Comparative Religion (magna cum laude) from the Hebrew University. My thesis, entitled "But I am Prayer: Voice, Body and the Anthropology of the Praying Self in Rabbinic and Syriac-Christian Literature", was written under the supervision of Prof. Brouria Bitton-Ashkelony. For this work I received the Polonsky Prize for Creativity and Originality in the humanistic disciplines (2017). In addition, I am a fellow in the doctoral program on human rights and Judaism at the Israel Democracy Institute.

Azrieli Fellows Scholarship 2019/20

President Stipend 2017/18

MA Honors Program 2014/15