Dr. Daniel J. Lasker

Daniel J. Lasker is the Norbert Blechner Professor of Jewish Values in the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought at Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Beer Sheva. His areas of interest are medieval Jewish philosophy (including the thought of Rabbi Judah Halevi, Maimonides, and Rabbi Hasdai Crescas), the Jewish-Christian debate, Karaism, and selected issues in Jewish theology and law. His first book, Jewish Philosophical Polemics Against Christianity (1977; second edition, 2007), details the use of philosophy in the medieval Jewish critique of Christianity. His latest book, From Judah Hadassi to Elijah Bashyatchi: Studies in Late Medieval Karaite Philosophy (2008), describes developments in Byzantine Karaite philosophy from the twelfth to fifteenth centuries. In addition, he has produced editions and translations of Hasdai Crescas' Refutation of the Christian Principles (1990, 1992) and The Book of Nestor the Priest (1996), two important Jewish polemical texts; co-edited a jubilee volume and two conference proceedings; and has authored over 175 other publications.

In the 2010-2011 academic year, Prof. Lasker is the Corcoran Visiting Chair in Christian-Jewish Relations at Boston College. In addition, Prof. Lasker has taught at Yale, Princeton, Ohio State, and Yeshiva Universities; University of Toronto, University of Texas, University of Washington; Queens, Ahva and Kirkland Colleges, and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.