As a scholar, author, and translator, Scheindlin will focus his presentation on the content of his book titled “Wine, Women, and Death: Medieval Hebrew Poems on the Good Life.” The book explores original Hebrew poetry from the 12th century which was informed by the dominant Arabic-Islamic culture of the time and Jewish religious and literary traditions.
Scheindlin received his master’s in Hebrew letters degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1963 and went on to earn a doctorate in Arabic literature from Columbia University in 1971. He is a professor emeritus of Medieval Hebrew Literature at his alma mater of the Jewish Theological Seminary and retired director of the Seminary’s Shalom Spiegel Institute of Medieval Hebrew Poetry.
In addition to his academic accreditation, Scheindlin has received multiple awards for his dedication to his religious studies. These include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Cultural Achievement Award of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, and the Cullman Fellowship from the New York Public Library.
Scheindlin is also a prolific author, translator, and contributing writer. Some of his well-known writings include: “A Short History of the Jewish People,” “501 Arabic Verbs: Fully Conjugated in all Forms,” “201 Arabic Verbs,” “The Chronicles of the Jewish People,” “The Song of the Distant Dove: Judah Halevi’s Pilgrimage,” and “Kabbalat Shabbat: The Grand Unification: At the Sabbath Table.”
###
About the Usdin Lecture Series
The Cecile & Gene Usdin Judeo-Christian Lecture Series is funded by a substantial donation to the College from Gene Usdin, a former president of the American Psychiatric Association and a clinical professor of psychiatry at Louisiana State University School of Medicine.
In the past, the Usdin lecture series has hosted speakers like Fr. Michael Patella, professor of New Testament at the St. Johns School of Theology, and Father Columba, an American Benedictine monk, scholar, and the executive director of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library.
