Dr. Levi Cooper
As a legal historian, my research focuses on Jewish law in the late modern period, particularly in the Hasidic milieu.
I was born in Melbourne, Australia. I have completed an LL.B. and an LL.M. and qualified for the Israel Bar Association.
As a legal historian, my research focuses on Jewish law in the late modern period. In particular, I am interested in Jewish law in the Hasidic milieu. My doctoral work focused on the legal writings of Hasidic masters, in particular Rabbi Hayim Elazar Shapira of Munkatch.
I have just completed two years of a post-doctoral fellowship in Bar-Ilan University’s Faculty of Law where I explored the legal writings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liady. In 2014-15 I will be a post-doctoral fellow in Tel-Aviv University’s Faculty of Law, where I will explore the interface between Jewish law and Hasidic lore, including tales, practices, and customs.
I lecture in Jewish law at Bar-Ilan University’s Faculty of Law, and at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem.
Selected Publications
- ‘On Etkes’ Ba‘al Ha-Tanya,’ Diné Israel 29 (2013): 177-189
- ‘Bitter Herbs in Hasidic Galicia,’ JSIJ 12 (2013): 1-40
- ‘The Blessing over the Sun Ceremony in Contemporary Hasidic Courts,’ Daat 77 (2014): 183-207 [Hebrew]
- ‘“But I Will Tell of Their Deeds”: Retelling a Hasidic Tale about the Power of Storytelling,’ Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 22, no. 2 (2014): 127-163
Forthcoming publications
- ‘Against the Flow of the Raging Waters: The Hasidic Master of Munkács Rabbi Chaim Elazar Shapira,’ in The Gdoilim: Men who Shaped the Haredi Community in Israel, ed. B. Brown and N. Leon, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute [Hebrew]
- ‘Custom in the ‘Arukh Ha-Shulḥan and Custom in the Mishna Berura,’ in Darkei Daniel: Festschrift in honour of Prof. Daniel Sperber, ed. A. Ferziger and A. Hollander, Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press [Hebrew]
- ‘Good Fridays: The Pre-Sabbath Mystical Experience of Rabbi Elimelekh of Lizhensk,’ in Essays for a Jewish Lifetime: Burton D. Morris Jubilee Volume, ed. Menachem Butler and Marian E. Frankston, New York: Hakirah Press, 2014
- ‘Legislation for Education: The Munkács Regulations Enacted by Rabbi Tsevi Elimelekh of Dynów,’ Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry 30 (2017)
- ‘Rabbinate, Law, Erudition: Unknown Aspects of the Life of Rabbi Levi Yitsḥak of Berdyczów,’ Rabbi Levi Yitsḥak of Berdyczów: Collected Studies, ed. Z. Mark, Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 2014 [Hebrew]
- ‘The Assimilation of Tikkun Olam,’ Jewish Political Studies Review 25, no. 3-4 (Fall 2014)
- ‘Towards a Judicial Biography of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liady,’ Journal of Law and Religion 30, no. 1 (February/March 2015)
- ‘Tykocin and Włodawa: A Tale of Two Treasures,’ Toronto Journal of Jewish Thought 4 [Hebrew]
- ‘Why did Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liady never publish his Shulḥan ‘arukh?’ Diné Israel 31 (2015)