Guest Scholar, Rabbi Explores the Characterization of Biblical Women

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Laura Lieber

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Laura Lieber, associate professor of religion at Duke University and assistant director of the Duke Center for Jewish Studies, will give her lecture, "Invented Mothers, Mothers of Invention: Biblical Women Reimagined," at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, at the Fayetteville Public Library as part of the Beyond the Holocaust series.

“I’m looking at how women from the Hebrew Bible were brought to life in the poetry of the ancient synagogue and how the sketches of characters in the biblical text become more fully rounded characters when they are performed,” said Lieber.

A Fayetteville native, Lieber received a bachelor of arts in English from the University of Arkansas, rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, and a doctorate in the history of Judaism from the University of Chicago.

“It is a tremendous honor to come back to Fayetteville,” said Lieber. “I’ve always been so attached to my alma mater, and I’ve always hoped I would be asked to give a talk like this at home. It’s just a real honor.” 

“It was essential to me to invite professor Lieber to take part – she’s a homegrown voice who can come back and talk to students who are where she was. She is doing critically acclaimed work,” said Jennifer Hoyer, assistant professor of German in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

Lieber recently completed a book, which explores the interpretation of the Song of Songs in Late Antiquity. Her current research focuses on the performance of ancient liturgy, and she is also completing an annotated translation of Jewish Aramaic poetry from antiquity.

“I’m really interested in how people lived, how the Bible was taught, what they did in their spare time, and how Jews encountered rising Christianity,” said Lieber.

“She can reach out to our audience on so many levels, and to top it off, she brings together Jewish studies, classical studies, gender and poetry. So many important topics in one. It’s an honor to host her,” said Hoyer.

The Beyond the Holocaust series was made possible by the Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project, directed by the Association for Jewish Studies. Support for the Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project is provided by Legacy Heritage Fund Limited.

“The LHFJSP grant specifically aims to bring awareness to local Jewish studies resources. In organizing the event series, I wanted to make sure we highlight our campus resources, our faculty resources, our student resources, and also to show other ways our university has links to Jewish studies,” said Hoyer.

Hoyer received the grant in the spring of 2012 and has sponsored several programs including art, music, films and lecturers as part of the series. To learn more about the series and its individual events at the Beyond the Holocaust web page.