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Marc B. Shapiro (Hebrew: מלך שפירא, born 1966) is a rabbi, professor, and the author of various books and articles on Jewish history, philosophy, theology, and rabbinic literature.

Education and career

Shapiro received his BA at Brandeis University and his PhD at Harvard University; he was the final PhD student of Isadore Twersky. He received rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Ephraim Greenblatt. Shapiro's father is Edward S. Shapiro, who has published books on American history and American Jewish history.

Shapiro holds the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Chair in Judaic Studies at the University of Scranton. Shapiro is an online lecturer for Torah in Motion and leads tours of Jewish historical sites in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Germany, Italy, Central Europe, Morocco, and Tunisia for the group, as well. He often writes for Seforim Blog.

Writing

Shapiro's writings often challenge the bounds of the conventional Orthodox understanding of Judaism, using academic methodology while adhering to Modern Orthodox sensibilities.

Shapiro's book, Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy: The Life and Works of Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg,^[1] a biography of Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, was a National Jewish Book Award finalist. His second book, The Limits of Orthodox Theology: Maimonides' Thirteen Principles Reappraised,^[2] also a National Jewish Book Award finalist, argued against the popular Orthodox belief that Maimonides Thirteen Principles of Faith have always been regarded as unquestionable dogma.^[3] Gidon Rothstein, writing in the Association for Jewish Studies Review, called the book's collection of sources "remarkable."^[4]

Shapiro's 2006 book, Saul Lieberman and the Orthodox, discusses how the Orthodox world related to Saul Lieberman, who was a recognized Talmudic scholar who taught at the Conservative Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

Shapiro's 2008 book, Studies in Maimonides and His Interpreters, examines how Maimonides has been understood in both the traditional and the academic worlds. It also deals with Maimonides' attitude towards superstition.

In 2015, Shapiro's book Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History,^[5] was released, documenting the phenomenon of internal censorship in Orthodoxy; where Adam Ferziger said the book "is the outstanding product of a master of rabbinic literature and an extraordinarily sharp-eyed and meticulous scholar."^[6] Yair Hoffman, writing in the Hareidi online website Yeshiva World News, criticized the book, saying that "there is a plethora of material that simply should not have been included in the book because it does not back up his thesis."^[7] Ezra Glinter, writing in The Forward, praised Shapiro's "evenhanded, evidence-heavy approach" and that he was not a "polemicist," but said "his argument could also have benefited from a more critical thrust."^[8]

In 2019 Shapiro published Iggerot Malkhei Rabbanan which contains more than thirty years of correspondence with some of the world's most outstanding Torah scholars.

Books, Articles, Lectures

Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy: The Life and Works of Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg, 1884–1966 (London, 1999)
Collected Writings of R. Jehiel Jacob Weinberg, 2 Volumes (Scranton, 1998, 2003)
The Limits of Orthodox Theology: Maimonides' Thirteen Principles Reappraised (Oxford, 2004)
Saul Lieberman and the Orthodox (Scranton, 2006)
Studies in Maimonides and His Interpreters (Scranton, 2008)
Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History (Oxford, 2015)
Iggerot Malkhei Rabbanan (Scranton, 2019)
Shapiro posts at the Seforim Blog
Shapiro series on the Mir Yeshiva escape to Shanghai
Shapiro series on Saul Lieberman
Shapiro series on his latest book, Iggerot Malkhei Rabbanan
Shapiro series on the rise of Reform and the rabbinic response
Shapiro series on Zechariah Frankel and the Positive-Historical School
Shapiro series on Rav Soloveitchik's letters
Shapiro series on Rabbi Seligmann Baer Bamberger
Shapiro series on the Mussar Dispute
Shapiro series on Rabbi Samuel Mohilever
Shapiro podcasts, "Jewish History Uncensored"
Shapiro classes on great rabbinic figures
Shapiro class on kitniyot
Shapiro class on Torah study on Christmas Eve
Shapiro class on Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim
Shapiro class on Rabbi Elijah Benamozegh
Shapiro class on Rabbi Shalom Messas
Shapiro class on Rabbi Joseph Kafih
Shapiro class on Rabbi Shlomo Goren
Shapiro class on Judaism and Islam
Shapiro lecture on Rabbi Joseph Messas
Shapiro lecture on Rabbi Jacob Israel Kanievsky (The Steipler)
Shapiro lecture on Rabbi Zvi Yehuda and the Hazon Ish
Shapiro lecture on Issues of Dogma in Recent Orthodox Literature
Shapiro lecture on Subjectivity and the Role of Values in Halakhah
Shapiro discussion of R. Esriel Hildesheimer and women's education
Seforim Chatter interview
Seforim Chatter interview, "Was there a Herem to Live in Spain?"
Dovid Bashevkin Interview, "Where Does Orthodox Judaism Come From?"
Credo 13
Shapiro Academia page
Shapiro website

References

^ Shapiro, Marc B. (June 1, 2002). Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy: The Life and Works of Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg, 1884-1966. Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, Oxford. ISBN 978-1874774914.
^ Shapiro, Marc B. (2004). The Limits of Orthodox Theology: Maimonides' Thirteen Principles Reappraised. The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, Oxford. ISBN 978-1906764234.
^ Shapiro, Marc B. (1993). "Maimonides' Thirteen Principles: The Last Word in Jewish Theology?". The Torah U-Madda Journal. 4 (1993). Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, an affiliate of Yeshiva University: 187–242. JSTOR 40914883. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
^ Rothstein, Gidon (2005-04-01). "Marc B. Shapiro. The Limits of Orthodox Theology: Maimonides' Thirteen Principles Reappraised. The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 221 pp". AJS Review. 29 (1): 169–171. doi:10.1017/S0364009405260099. ISSN 1475-4541. S2CID 161234673.
^ Shapiro, Marc B. (2015). Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History. The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, Oxford. ISBN 978-1904113607.
^ [1] "The Sagacious Scholar and the Censor"
^ "Book Review: Marc Shapiro's "Changing the Immutable"". Retrieved 2017-02-26.
^ Glinter, Ezra (2015-07-13). "Orthodoxy's Inconvenient Truths". The Forward. Retrieved 2017-03-05.