Feb

5 2025

Emerging Voices in Jewish Studies: Sari Fein

6:00PM - 8:00PM  

Contact Helene Sinnreich
hsinnreich@utk.edu

The Emerging Voices in Jewish Studies lecture series showcases cutting-edge scholarship about Jews and Judaism. Highlighting the work of young scholars, the Emerging Voices series covers topics in Jewish history ranging from biblical antiquity to contemporary America. With a particular focus on work featuring intersections between Jewish Studies and other humanities fields, the Emerging Voices series aims to foster understanding of Jews and Judaism while contributing to the intellectual culture of the university
 
Sari Fein, "'I Urge the Spirit Who Sits on the Womb': Jewish Women's Reproductive Practice in the Ancient World." Wednesday February 5 at 6 PM EST
Emilie Amar-Zifkin, Tuesday, March 11 at 6 PM EST
Chumie Juni, Thursday April 3 at 6 PM EST
Eli Rosenblatt, Wednesday April 9 at 6 PM EST
 

Sari Fein is Visiting Assistant Professor in Jewish Studies at Smith College in Northampton, MA. She received her PhD in 2022 from Brandeis University with a dissertation entitled Conceiving Motherhood: The Reception of Biblical Mothers in the Early Jewish Imagination, which is currently being reworked for publication as a monograph. Her current research uses textual and material sources to interrogate how women exercised agency and authority over their reproductive lives in Jewish antiquity, and an article on this topic is forthcoming in Advances in Near Eastern and Biblical Research.

In the ancient world, reproduction was critically important yet fraught with risk. Survival of not only the family but the community itself was dependent upon women's success in conceiving, bearing, and raising children. This talk explores how women in antiquity navigated these physical and social vulnerabilities and exercised agency over their reproductive lives. We will explore texts from the Torah and rabbinic literature alongside magical objects such as incantation bowls and amulets for what they reveal about women's reproductive experiences in Jewish antiquity. Through this conversation, we will gain a deeper understanding about how Jews in the ancient world understood larger issues such as bodies, health, communal identity, and religious belief.

Sponsor: Fern and Manfred Steinfeld Program in Judaic Studies at University of Tennessee Knoxville