Judith Bleich is a professor of Judaic studies at Touro College

Touro College

Touro College is a sponsored independent institution of higher and professional education, in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by Dr. Bernard Lander, the College was established primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American community...

 in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

. She specializes in the nineteenth-century development of Reform

Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...

 and neo-Orthodoxy in the wake of the enlightenment

Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

 and emancipation, and has written extensively on modern Jewish history. She is also a member of the steering committee for the Orthodox Forum organized by Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...

.

Biography

She was born Judith Ochs. In June 1961 she married Rabbi J. David Bleich

J. David Bleich

J. David Bleich is an authority on Jewish law and ethics, including Jewish medical ethics. He is rabbi of Cong. B'nei Jehuda...

. They had three children.

Academic credentials

Bleich earned her bachelor's degree and Bachelor of Religious Education

Bachelor of Religious Education

The Bachelor of Religious Education, or BRE, or B.R.E. is an undergraduate degree. It offers a broad education in the areas of scripture and theology. It differs from a BA degree in that approximately three quarters of the program is invested in studies outside of the liberal arts...

 from Stern College. She earned her master's degree from Yeshiva University. She earned her doctorate from New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

in 1974 with her dissertation Jacob Ettlinger, His Life and
Works: The Emergence of Modern Orthodoxy in Germany.

Selected bibliography

A full list of Bleich's articles appears here.

Articles

• "A symposium on divided and distinguished worlds". Tradition 26,2 (1992) 4-62
• "Between East and West: modernity and traditionalism in the writings of Rabbi Yehi’el Ya’akov Weinberg". Engaging Modernity (1997) 169-273
• "The Emergence of an Orthodox Press in Nineteenth-Century Germany". Jewish Social Studies 42 3/4 (1980), 323-344
• "Liturgical innovation and spirituality: Trends and trendiness". Jewish Spirituality and Divine Law (2005) 315-405
• "Rabbi Akiva Eger and the Nascent Reform Movement", in Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies 9.B3 (1986)
• "Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch: Ish al Ha’edah". Jewish Action 56.4: 28
• "Rabbinic responses to nonobservance in the modern era". Jewish Tradition and the Non-Traditional Jew (1992) 37-115
• "The Testament of a Halakhist". Tradition 20.3 (1982)

Book chapters

• "The Circumcision Controversy in Classical Reform in Historical Context" in Turim: Studies in Jewish history and literature presented to Dr. Bernard Lander (Volume 1) (2007).
• "Greater Resources, Greater Accountability" in The Ethical Imperative: Torah perspectives on ethics and values (2000)
• "Military service: Ambivalence and contradition" in War and Peace in the Jewish Tradition (2007), 415-476