The Jewish Theological Seminary
Burton Visotzky
BURTON L. VISOTZKY is the Appleman Professor of Midrash and Interreligious Studies at The Jewish Theological Seminary. He joined the faculty immediately following his ordination into the rabbinate in 1977. As director of the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies, Dr. Visotzky is charged with developing programs on public policy. He also directs the newly formed Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue. Rabbi Visotzky has served as associate and acting dean of The Graduate School of JTS, and as the founding rabbi of JTS's egalitarian worship service in the Women's League Seminary Synagogue.
Having earned a BA (with highest honors and distinction) from the University of Illinois at Chicago, an EdM from Harvard University, and an MA and PhD from JTS, Dr. Visotzky also became a visiting scholar at Oxford University, and a visiting faculty member at Union and Princeton theological seminaries, Hebrew Union College, Princeton University, and the Russian State University of the Humanities in Moscow. In addition, he served as the Master Visiting Professor of Jewish Studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He is a former fellow and life member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge.
Dr Visotzky consulted with Bill Moyers and was a featured participant in the ten-hour PBS television series, Genesis: A Living Conversation, which premiered in 1996. He also consulted with Jeffrey Katzenberg and DreamWorks on their 1998 film, Prince of Egypt.
Rabbi Visotzky has written more than 100 articles and reviews, and his writing continues to be published in America, Europe, and Israel. He is the author of nine books, including Reading the Book: Making the Bible a Timeless Text (1991); The Genesis of Ethics: How the Tormented Family of Genesis Leads Us to Moral Development (1996); The Road to Redemption: Lessons from Exodus on Leadership and Community (1998); and From Mesopotamia to Modernity: Ten Introductions to Jewish History and Literature (co-editor, 1999). Dr. Visotzky's novel, A Delightful Compendium of Consolation, set in eleventh-century North Africa, was published in 2008. His tenth book, Sage Tales: Wisdom and Wonder from the Rabbis of the Talmud, has recently been published by Jewish Lights Publishers.
View an interview from "Call on Faith" with Dr. Visotzky about Sage Tales.
Listen to an audio podcast of a Library Book Talk with Dr. Visotzky on Sage Tales.
Dr. Visotzky serves on the boards of Fordham Law School's Stein Center for Law and Ethics and the Journal for InterReligious Dialogue, and on J-Street's National Advisory Council. He is a member of the New Israel Fund Rabbinic Council's steering committee, the American Jewish World Service Education Committee and Rabbinic Council, and sits on the advisory board of Auburn Seminary's Center for Multifaith Education. Dr. Visotzky served as a national vice chair of Rabbis for Obama, and on the board of trustees and executive committee of CancerCare.
Internationally, Rabbi Visotzky is engaged in Jewish-Christian-Muslim dialogue in capitals such as Washington DC; Warsaw; Rome; Cairo; Doha (where he was in the first group of Jews invited by Qatar's emir); and Madrid (where he was in the first group of Jews invited by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia). Read an article on Dr. Visotzky's meeting with King Abdullah.
Watch an interview of Dr. Visotzky explaining how he got involved with interreligious dialogue:
Dr. Visotzky is active as a lecturer and scholar-in-residence throughout North America, Europe, and Israel. His study groups and books have been hailed on radio, television, and in print. Rabbi Visotzky is married to attorney Sandra Edelman; they make their home in New York City and Kent, Connecticut.
See Dr. Visotzky's Speakers Bureau profile.
May 2011
Published Works
Sage Tales: Wisdom and Wonder from the Rabbis of the Talmud
Reading the Book: Making The Bible a Timeless Text
From Mesopotomia to Modernity: Ten Introductions to Jewish History and Literature
The Road to Redemption: Lessons From Exodus
Fathers of the World: Essays on Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures
Golden Bells and Pomegranates: Studies in Midrash Leviticus Rabbah
