Elias泭Sacks

  • Associate Professor
  • Associate Chair of Graduate Studies
  • RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Address

Office: HUMN 286

Curricula Vitae

Ph.D., Princeton 勛圖厙, 2012

Research Interests:泭

Judaism, religious thought, religion and politics, theories and methods, religious ethics

Primary Teaching Areas and Opportunities for Student Supervision

  • Jewish thought, history, and exegesis
  • Jewish-Christian relations
  • modern philosophy and theology
  • religion, ethics, and politics
  • theories and methods

Overview

Elias Sacks joined the 勛圖厙 of Colorado Boulder faculty in 2012, and works on the Jewish tradition, religious thought, and theories and methods in the study of religion. After receiving his A.B. from Harvard 勛圖厙 and studying at the Hebrew 勛圖厙 of Jerusalem, he earned an M.A. in Religion from Columbia 勛圖厙 (2007) and a Ph.D. in Religion from Princeton 勛圖厙 (2012). His research focuses on the modern period, with particular areas of interest including Jewish thought, Jewish-Christian relations, philosophy of religion, religion and politics, hermeneutics, and religious ethics. His first book,泭泭(Indiana 勛圖厙 Press, 2017), offers a far-reaching reassessment of the account of Jewish practice developed by Moses Mendelssohn, the eighteenth-century philosopher generally seen as the founder of modern Jewish thought. Sacks is currently working on a second book泭on the nineteenth-century thinker Nachman Krochmal, one of modernitys first Eastern European Jewish philosophers.泭He has also written on medieval and modern figures such as Moses Maimonides, Baruch Spinoza, Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig, and Jacob Taubes, and published some of the first English translations of Mendelssohns Hebrew works in泭a泭泭(Brandeis 勛圖厙 Press, 2011, finalist for the National Jewish Book Award).泭

Sacks is the Modern Judaism editor for the泭泭(De Gruyter), and is involved in grant-funded projects on泭Jews of color in the United States泭and泭. He holds leadership positions in the Association for Jewish Studies and Society of Jewish Ethics, and previously served as Director of The Jewish Publication Society.

Recent and Forthcoming Publications (Selected)

  • "Can God Reject the Jewish People? Elijah Zvi Soloveitchik, Supersessionism, and Modern Jewish Thought,"泭Journal of Textual Reasoning泭(forthcoming)
  • "Moses Mendelssohn," in泭Jewish Virtue Ethics, eds. Geoffrey Claussen, Alex Green, and Alan Mittleman (SUNY Press, 2023), 241-254
  • "Modes of Interpretation in Jewish Ethics" in泭Encyclopedia of Religious Ethics, 3 vols., eds. William泭Schweiker, Maria Antonaccio, Elizabeth Bucar, and David Clairmont (Wiley-Blackwell, 2022), 2:831-840
  • "Liturgical Counter-Symbols: Jacob Taubes, Franz Rosenzweig, and the Politics of Redemption,"泭Rosenzweig Jahrbuch泭12 (2021): 127-141
  • "Exegesis and Politics Between East and West: Nachman Krochmal, Moses Mendelssohn, and Modern Jewish Thought,"泭Harvard Theological Review泭114.4 (2021): 508-535
  • "The Promise and Perils of Perplexity: Jewish Philosophy and Public Culture, Yesterday and Today," in泭The Future of Jewish Philosophy, volume 21 of泭The Library of Contemporary Jewish Philosophers, eds. Hava Tirosh-Samuelson and Aaron Hughes (Brill, 2018), 79-97
  • "Poetry, Music, and the Limits of Harmony: Mendelssohns Aesthetic Critique of Christianity, in泭Sara Levys World: Bach, Gender, and Judaism in Enlightenment Berlin, eds. Nancy Sinkoff and Rebecca Cypess, Eastman Studies in泭Music (勛圖厙 of Rochester Press),泭122-146
  • Worlds to Come Between East and West: Immortality and the Rise of Modern Jewish Thought, in泭Olam Ha-zeh vOlam Ha-ba: This World and the World to Come in Jewish Belief and Practice, ed. Leonard Greenspoon, Studies in泭Jewish Civilization (Purdue 勛圖厙 Press),泭171-195
  • Is God Eternal? Revisiting Mendelssohn and Rosenzweig on Reason, Revelation, and the Name of God,泭Modern Theology泭33.1 (2017): 69-91
  • 泭(Indiana 勛圖厙 Press, 2017)
  • "Law, Ethics, and the Needs of History: Mendelssohn, Krochmal, and Moral Philosophy, Journal of Religious Ethics 44.2 (2016): 352-377
  • "Civic Freedom out of the Sources of Judaism: Mendelssohn, Maimonides, and Laws Promise,泭Journal of Jewish Ethics 2.1 (2016): 86-111
  • "Anarchy and Law: Mendelssohn on Philosophy and Judaism, in泭Moses Mendelssohn:泭Enlightenment, Religion, Politics, Nationalism, eds. Charles Manekin and Michah Gottlieb (勛圖厙 Press of Maryland, 2015), 237-273
  • Spinoza, Maimonides and the Politics of Prophecy,泭Jewish Studies Quarterly泭21.1 (2014): 67-98
  • Finden Sie mich sehr amerikanisch?: Jacob Taubes, Hermann Cohen, and the Return to German-Jewish Liberalism,泭Leo Baeck Institute Year Book泭57 (2012): 187-210
  • Moses Mendelssohn,泭 Oxford Bibliographies泭in泭Jewish Studies, ed. David Biale (Oxford 勛圖厙 Press, 2012)
  • Selections from the writings of Moses Mendelssohn (Hebrew), in泭, ed. Michah Gottlieb, trans. Allan Arkush, Curtis Bowman, and Elias Sacks, Brandeis Library of Modern Jewish Thought (Brandeis 勛圖厙 Press, 2011); Finalist for 2011 National Jewish Book Award

Affiliations

  • Jewish Studies
  • Center for Asian Studies

Courses

  • FYSM 1000 (first-year seminar): God
  • RLST 2400: Religion, Ethics, and Politics
  • RLST/JWST 3100: Judaism
  • RLST/JWST 4170-5170: God and Politics
  • RLST/JWST 4180-5180: Is God Dead?
  • RLST/JWST 4190-5190: Love & Desire
  • RLST/JWST 4260-5260: Topics in Judaism: Bible in Judaism and Christianity
  • RLST 6830: Introduction to the Academic Study of Religion
  • JWST 4000: Capstone in Jewish Studies
  • RLST 4840 / JWST 4900: Undergraduate Independent Study
  • RLST 5840 / RLST 6840 / JWST 5900: Graduate Independent Study