Daniel J. Lasker

Daniel J. Lasker is the Norbert Blechner Professor of Jewish Values in the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Beer Sheva, Israel. His areas of interest are medieval Jewish philosophy (including the thought of Rabbi Judah Halevi, Maimonides, and Rabbi Hasdai Crescas), the Jewish-Christian debate, Karaism, and selected issues in Jewish theology and law. His first book, Jewish Philosophical Polemics Against Christianity (1977; second edition, 2007), details the use of philosophy in the medieval Jewish critique of Christianity, and subsequent works have included editions and translations of a number of polemical treatises. From Judah Hadassi to Elijah Bashyatchi: Studies in Late Medieval Karaite Philosophy (2008), describes developments in Byzantine Karaite philosophy from the twelfth to fifteenth centuries, and his latest book, The Sage Simhah Isaac Lutski. An Eighteenth-Century Karaite Rabbi. Selected Writings (2015), presents annotated editions of Lutski's treatises. He has over 200 other publications as well. In addition to Ben-Gurion University, Prof. Lasker has taught at University of Toronto, Yale University, Princeton University, Ohio State University, University of Texas, University of Washington, and other institutions. His family – his wife, five children and 13 grandchildren – all live in Israel.

Issue: 4:1 (The thirth issue)

The interview given by Daniel J. Lasker, the Norbert Blechner Professor of Jewish Values in the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Beer Sheva, Israel