Shachar Pinsker  |  Curriculum Vitae
Shachar Pinsker is Assistant Professor of Hebrew Literature and Culture at the Near-Eastern Studies department at the University of Michigan. He is .the coordinator of the Hebrew program and the advisor for HJCS. He received his B.A and M.A from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard University and Ben-Gurion University. Shachar Pinsker published a number of articles in Hebrew and English about Modern Hebrew and Israeli Literature. He is the co-editor of a book entitled Hebrew, Gender and Modernity (University of Maryland Press, forthcoming), and is currently working on a book entitled Old Wine in New Flasks: Rabbinic Intertexts and the Making of Hebrew Modernism, which won the Koret Jewish Studies Publication award. His new research project is about the role of Yiddish and Eastern-Europe in Israeli literature and culture. Shachar teaches advanced Hebrew, as well as courses on Israeli Literature and Culture, and modern Jewish Literature.

Elliot Ginsberg:  |  Curriculum Vitae
Elliot K Ginsburg is Associate Professor of Jewish Thought in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan. He specializes in the Jewish mystical traditions, including kabbalah and hasidism, and has wide-ranging interests in Judaism as religious tradition, and in the history of religions. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in Religious Studies, and previously taught at Oberlin College in Ohio. He has published two books with SUNY Press, most notably The Sabbath in the Classical Kabbalah, which is scheduled to appear in a new edition with Littman Press. His current projects include a study of the “Sabbath during the week” both as concept and practice, and a multi-tiered study of Jewish mystical prayer. Elliot Ginsburg has taught courses on Jewish Mysticism, Modern Jewish Thought, Perspectives on the Holocaust, and seminars on such topics as The Radical Teachings of Nahman of Bratslav, Zohar, The Sabbath and Sacred Time, and The Emotions and Senses in Judaism.

Yaron Eliav  |  Curriculum Vitae
Yaron Eliav, Frankel Assistant Professor of Rabbinic Literature and Late Antique Jewish Culture (PhD. Hebrew University, Jewish History and Archaeology, 1999), draws on talmudic, early Christian, and classic literatures, as well as on archaeology in order to study the multi-faceted cultural environment of Roman Palestine with emphasis on the encounter between Jews and Graeco-Roman culture. His book, God's Mountain: The Temple Mount in Time, Space, and Memory, is now in press with Johns Hopkins University Press. Other studies of his include "The Roman Bath as a Jewish Institution: Another Look at the Encounter between Judaism and the Greco-Roman Culture" (Journal for the Study of Judaism 2000); and more recently, "The Tomb of James Brother of Jesus as Locus Memoriae" (Harvard Theological Review, 2004). Eliav is the co-director of the Statuary Project, an interdisciplinary, multi-year research endeavor that takes place at the University of Michigan. In 2004-5 Eliav will stay in Jerusalem as a senior fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University.

Milka Eliav  |  Curriculum Vitae
I received my BA in English Literature (cum laude) from Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, as well as a Teaching Certificate (summa cum laude) from the School of Education there. After graduating in 1993, I taught English for Hebrew speakers and worked as the assistant to the artistic director at the Jerusalem Khan Theatre. We then moved to New York, where I worked for the Jewish Agency's kibbutz desk, and held evening Hebrew classes for adult students. Two years later, upon arrival to Ann Arbor, I was fortunate to join the Hebrew Unit here as a language instructor. I have enjoyed teaching Modern Hebrew for beginners ever since, with the exception of a year long sabbatical in Israel during 2004/5.

Doron Lamm  |  Curriculum Vitae
Doron Lamm joined the faculty of The University of Michigan in 1997. Having taught at the Hebrew programs of New York University, the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he has extensive experience teaching Hebrew to English-speaking students. Over the years, he has taught all levels of Hebrew and at varying degrees of intensity. Doron is a strong believer in teaching Hebrew within its cultural context and towards an all round competency. His interests include the use of Information Technology in foreign language instruction, methods for the integration of culture into the classroom, Learning Disabilities & foreign languages and curriculum development for Hebrew Heritage Students (children of Hebrew speakers). A historian by training, Doron Lamm holds degrees from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of London, England. He currently serves as the coordinator for the Hebrew Language Program.

Ilan Rosenberg  |  Curriculum Vitae
Just a few days after Fidel Castro assumed power in Cuba and Ritchie Valens made it to the top of the hit parade with "Donna" - I was born. Musical styles have evolved considerably since Donna's glory days and, Fidel's days might be numbered. Likewise, many things have changed and evolved in my life. I grew up and got educated in Tel- Aviv(clinical psychology), enjoyed translating several books from English to Hebrew, moved to the states (1991) and worked as a counselor in Olympia, WA. A career change took place when I moved to Seattle (1993) where I started to teach Hebrew at the university of Washington. I have been doing it since, loving every minute of it. Yet, some things seem to remain the same.Israel has been my home all through these years. Still connected to the people, to the language and to the culture of Israel. And music! Music has always been part of my life since I heard Ritchie Valens' mega hit, to the day I started to host a radio show in Ann Arbor. In this show I play music from around the mediterranean and some fine music from ... Cuba.

Pauli Weizman  |  Curriculum Vitae
I have been teaching Hebrew at the University of Michigan since 1987. I hold degrees in: BA, Hebrew Linguistics, from Tel Aviv University, Israel; MA, Teaching English as a Second language, From Eastern Michigan University; Master of Social Work from University of Michigan. As a lecturer of Hebrew, my basic goal is to bring students from no functional ability at the novice level to proficiency in communication at the intermediate level. In the past couple of years I have been writing and developing an introductory Hebrew course pack Getting Aquatinted, designed as an in class teaching materials as well as a compatible on-line program. I love teaching Hebrew, I love our students, and I am very proud to be part of the NES team. After so many years of teaching at the University of Michigan, I still get excited about teaching and treat every class as if it was my first time teaching it.