Shuly Rubin Schwartz to deliver lecture entitled "They married what they wanted to be: The Rebbetzin in American Jewish Life" | Press Releases

Image: Shuly Schwartz The Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies of the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield University will present author Shuly Rubin Schwartz, Ph.D., for the lecture, "They Married What They Wanted to Be: The Rebbetzin in American Jewish Life." The lecture will take place at on Thursday, February 16, at 7:30 p.m. in the dining room of Fairfield University's Charles F. Dolan School of Business.

Much has been said and written about the contributions of rabbis to the Jewish faith, but what of their wives? They may be behind the scenes, but rebbetzin have exercised a huge influence throughout Jewish history. Dr. Schwartz's new book "The Rabbi's Wife: The Rebbetzin in American Jewish Life," which was released in December 2005 by NYU Press, cites many examples of important rebbetzin throughout history.

Dr. Schwartz, the Irving Lehrman Research Assistant Professor of American Jewish History and dean of Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies at The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), is also the author of "The Emergence of Jewish Scholarship in America: The Publication of the Jewish Encyclopedia" (Hebrew Union College Press, 1991). She has written numerous articles on modern Jewish life. Her groundbreaking research into the founding of the Ramah camping movement, "Camp Ramah: The Early Years, 1947-1952," was published in the journal Conservative Judaism.

Dr. Schwartz serves on the Academic Council of the American Jewish Historical Society.

Dr. Scwhartz serves on the academic advisory boards of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, Women's League Outlook magazine, the Hadassah Research Institute on Jewish Women, the Jewish Women's Archive and the forthcoming "Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America." A third-generation JTS graduate, Dr. Schwartz received her B.A. from Barnard College and her M.A. and Ph.D. from JTS. She was married to a rabbi for 25 years. He passed away in 2004.

There is no admission charge for this event, but reservations are required. To register, please call Judaic Studies at Fairfield University at (203) 254-4000, ext. 2066.