Immensely excited for the publication of my article, "The Female Body and the Male Gaze: Magic, Kabbalah, and Medicine in Early Modern East-Central Europe," in the recent edition of Jewish Quarterly Review 115.1 (2025): 33–67.

JQR 115.1 is out, featuring: -Aramaic incantation bowls -Early modern magical handbooks -Interwar-period Chabad food customs -A Hasidic "populist patron saint" -An early 20th cent. proposal for a Jewish state in the Sudan And 2 essays are currently FREE! katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/blog…

Amulets for warding off demons become portals to meditations on women and history in two new essays by Avigail Manekin-Bamberger and Andrea Gondos. Read and download them FREE for the next couple months! katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/blog…

History of Anatomy and Surgery 31: Breast's Anatomy [female?], Italy 1565-1589 From Filippo Cavriani, "Anatomia Depicta," MS Nuove Accessioni 329 (Grandi Formati 64), ff. 104r, 106r, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Florence. #CSMBR #Anatomy #Cavriani #Brest #Renaissance #Italy

Did you miss it? JQR 115.1 has arrived! 📚 Peruse the TOC and download two articles free: muse.jhu.edu/issue/54319

Officinal Plants Series 25: "Herba Bistorta"('Bistorta Officinalis'), Italy 15th century MS Ashburnham 731, f. 74v, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence. #CSMBR #Officinalplants #Bistorta #Ashburnham #Medicalhistory

Together with National Library of Israel, we have digitised the estates of 24 important Jewish-German intellectuals, including Gershom Scholem, Martin Buber and Albert Ehrenstein. These archives, and further material, can now be accessed online remotely for the first time: uhh.de/csmc-nli

Indigenous Remedies Series 2: Mediterranean Materia Medica, 10th century from "Dioscoridis de simplici medicina libri V", MS BSB Clm 337, ff. 27v, 31r, 32r, 33v, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich. #CSMBR #Dioscorides #Indigenousremedies #materiamedica

How was theriac made? Discover it on the British Society for the History of Medicine Blog. Enjoy! bshm.org.uk/blog/ #CSMBR BSHM

Officinal Plants Series 26: Harvesting Medicinal Herbs, Germany 13th century from "Herbal", Codex 204, f.1v, Eton College Library, Eton. #CSMBR #OfficinalPlants #Bettonica #etoncollege

Wonderful conference last week at Rice University on Kabbalah in the Information Age. I presented on Brad’s, hamsas, and birth amulets delving into material magic in the Jewish tradition.

Kepler’s 'Astronomia nova' (1609) is filled with emotional appeals. Find out more at our conference on Emotional Persuasion in Early Modern Science. 📅 15–16 May, Warburg Institute 🎟️ Free: in person or online warburg.sas.ac.uk/events/emotion…

Israel's National Library has become a critical destination for visitors since the war began, allowing them "to bear witness, to show solidarity" but also to hope for a better time. jpost.com/israel-news/ar…

Did you know that you can read and download our recent essay by Andrea Gondos free until May 25th?👇 The Female Body and the Male Gaze: Magic, Kabbalah, and Medicine in Early Modern East-Central Europe muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article…

Delighted to share my new article, "Secrets of Conception: Somatogenic and Magical Approaches to Love in Learned Medicine and East European Jewish Books of Secrets" published in Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 33 (2025): 110–150. academia.edu/129249103/Secr… via Academia

Excited about the new published special issue of the Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy, I co-edited with Magdalena Janosikova on medicine and Judaism, “Repairing the Body, Restoring the Soul: Kabbalah, Magic, and Philosophy in Premodern Jewish Healthcare."

Check out three fascinating new additions to the collection! katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/blog…

My lab at Weizmann Institute was completely demolished by the Iranian missile a few days ago. This is hard and sad as nothing was left to save. We study heart regeneration and regenerative medicine. As such, we will regenerate, regrow and rebuild. The one thing that wasn't gone is

An insightful book review in the Jerusalem Report by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein of our co-edited volume, The Life of the Soul: Jewish Perspectives on Reincarnation from the Middle Ages to the Modern Period (SUNY, 2024). For full review see, academia.edu/130137431/Book…

Amanda Podany's "Weavers, Scribes, and Kings" is now available in paperback. Discover the unique history of the ancient Near East that presents the life of kings, priestesses, merchants, bricklayers, and other stories. Learn more here: oxford.ly/46p0xEv