Scholars@Duke

• Background
• 

  Education, Training, & Certifications

  • Ph.D., The University of Chicago 2003
  • M.A., Hebrew Union College 1998
  • B.A., University of Arkansas, Fayetteville 1994
• 

  Previous Appointments & Affiliations

  • Associate Director of the Graduate Program in Religion, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2019 - 2020
  • Director of the Jewish Studies Certificate Program, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2015 - 2018
  • Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2011 - 2016
  • Associate Professor in the Department of Germanic Language and Literature, German Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2012 - 2016
  • Co-Director of the Center for Jewish Studies, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2014 - 2015
  • Interim Chair in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literature, German Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2014 - 2015
  • Assistant Director of the Program in Jewish Studies, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2008 - 2011
  • Assistant Professor of Religion, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2008 - 2011
• Publications & Artistic Works
• 

  Selected Publications

  • Books

    • Lieber, L. S. Songs from the Western Shore: Aramaic Poetry from Late Antiquity (Accepted). Cambridge: Brill, 2016.
    • Lieber, L. S. The Vocabulary of Desire: The Song of Songs in the Early Synagogue. Leiden: Brill, 2014.
    • Lieber, L. S. Yannai on Genesis: An Invitation to Piyyut. Hebrew Union College Press, 2010.
    • Green, D. A., and L. S. Lieber. Scriptural exegesis: The shapes of culture and the religious imagination essays in honour of Michael Fishbane, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206575.001.0001.
       Full Text
    • Green, D. A., and L. S. Lieber. Scriptural exegesis: The shapes of culture and the religious imagination essays in honour of Michael Fishbane, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206575.001.0001.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. Study Guide to the JPS Bible Commentary: Haftarot. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2002.
    • Lieber, L. S. The Poetry of Communal Lament in Late Ancient Judaism and Eastern Christianity (In preparation), n.d.
    • Lieber, L. S. Staging the Sacred: Liturgical Poetry through the Lens of Theater (In preparation), n.d.

  • Academic Articles

    • Lieber, L. S. “"On This Day, We Are Perfect": Embodiment in Yannai's Yom Kippur Qerova.” Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 30, no. 1 (January 1, 2022): 37–69. https://doi.org/10.1163/1477285X-12341326.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “Call and response: Antiphonal elements in jewish palestinian aramaic poetry.” Aramaic Studies 17, no. 2 (January 1, 2019): 127–44. https://doi.org/10.1163/17455227-01702001.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “With One Voice: Elements of Acclamation in Early Jewish Liturgical Poetry.” Harvard Theological Review 111, no. 3 (July 1, 2018): 401–24. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0017816018000172.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “Daru in the winehouse: The intersection of status and dance in the Jewish east.” Journal of Religion 98, no. 1 (January 1, 2018): 90–113. https://doi.org/10.1086/694658.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “Jewish Aramaic poetry from late antiquity: Translations and commentaries.” Etudes Sur Le Judaisme Medieval 75 (January 1, 2018): 1–245. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004365896_002.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “On the road with the mater Dolorosa: An exploration of mother-son discourse performance.” Journal of Early Christian Studies 24, no. 2 (June 1, 2016): 265–91. https://doi.org/10.1353/earl.2016.0021.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “Forever let it be said.” Journal of Ancient Judaism 7, no. 2 (January 1, 2016): 249–68. https://doi.org/10.30965/21967954-00702006.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “From the Margins: A Response to ‘Schoeps on Schoeps’.” Nexus: Essays in German Jewish Studies 2 (2015): 33–36.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Theater of the Holy: Performative Elements of Late Ancient Hymnography.” Harvard Theological Review 108, no. 3 (January 1, 2015): 327–55. https://doi.org/10.1017/S001781601500022X.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “Setting the stage: The theatricality of Jewish Aramaic poetry from late antiquity.” Jewish Quarterly Review 104, no. 4 (September 1, 2014): 537–72. https://doi.org/10.1353/jqr.2014.0039.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “The Plot within the Piyyut: Retelling the Story of Balak on the Liturgical Stage.” The Journal for Textual Reasoning 8 (2014).
       Link to Item
    • Lieber, L. S. “The Play’s the Thing: The Theatricality of Jewish Aramaic Poetry from Late Antiquity.” Jewish Quarterly Review, 2013.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Review of Deborah Green, The Aroma of Righteousness: Scent and Seduction in Rabbinic Life and Literature.” Interpretation 66 (2012): 334–35.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Review of Geza Vermes, Jesus in the Jewish World.” Theology 115 (2012): 53–54.
    • Lieber, Laura S. “The Aroma of Righteousness: Scent and Seduction in Rabbinic Life and Literature.” Interpretation a Journal of Bible and Theology 66, no. 3 (2012): 334–35.
       Link to Item
    • Lieber, L. S. “Essays on Michael Fishbane, Sacred Attunement: A Jewish Theology.” Edited by L. Edwards. The Ccar Journal: The Reform Jewish Quarterly, 2011.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Review of Isa Aron, Steven M. Cohen, Lawrence A. Hoffman, and Ari Y. Kelman, Sacred Strategies, Transforming Synagogues from Functional to Visionary (Herndon, VA: Alban Institute, 2010).” Worship, 2011, 270–72.
    • Lieber, L. S. “‘You Have Been Skirting this Hill Long Enough’: The Tension between History and Rhetoric in a Byzantine Piyyut.” Hebrew Union College Annual, 2011.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Themes and Variations: Yannai on Exod. 3:1 and Deut. 6:4.” Prooftexts 30 (2011): 180–213.
    • Lieber, L. “Themes and variations: Yannai on exodus 3:1 and Deuteronomy 6:4.” Prooftexts  Journal of Jewish Literature History 30, no. 2 (December 1, 2010): 180–216. https://doi.org/10.2979/prooftexts.30.2.180.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “The rhetoric of participation: Experiential elements of early hebrew liturgical poetry.” Journal of Religion 90, no. 2 (April 1, 2010): 119–47. https://doi.org/10.1086/649845.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “Review of Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Song and Memory. Biblical Women in Syriac Tradition (Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press, 2010).” Zeitschrift Für Religions  Und Geistesgeschichte 62 (2010): 393–393.
    • Green, D. A., and L. S. Lieber. “Introduction.” Scriptural Exegesis: The Shapes of Culture and the Religious Imagination Essays in Honour of Michael Fishbane, May 1, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206575.003.0001.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “Portraits of Righteousness: Noah in Early Christian and Jewish Hymnography.” Zeitschrift Fuer Religions  Und Geistegeschichte 61 (2009): 332–55.
    • Lieber, L. S. “The Exegesis of Love: Text and Context in the Early Synagogue.” Review of Rabbinic Literature 11 (2008): 73–99.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Review of: Michael Satlow, Creating Judaism: History, Tradition, and Practice (Columbia UP: New York, 2006).” Hebrew Studies 49 (2008).
    • Lieber, L. S. “There is None like You among the Mute: the Theology of Ein Kamokha Ba-Illemim in Context, with a New Edition and Translation.” Crusades 6 (2007): 15–35.
    • Lieber, L. “The poet and the tower-builders: A translation and analysis of Yannai's Piyyut for genesis 11.” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 8, no. 1 (June 1, 2005): 163–88. https://doi.org/10.1163/157007005774513972.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “The Generation that Built the Tower: Yannai on Genesis 11.” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 8 (2005): 161–88.
    • Lieber, Laura Suzanne. “Jewish Living: A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice. Mark Washofsky.” The Journal of Religion 82, no. 4 (October 2002): 670–71. https://doi.org/10.1086/491212.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “Review of Mark Washofsky, Jewish Living: A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice.” Journal of Religion 82 (2002): 670–71.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Review of Samuel Balentine, The Torah's Vision of Worship.” Journal of Religion 82 (2002): 269–70.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Kissing Cousins: The Relationship of the Mekhilta and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to Parashat Mishpatim.” The Journal of the Aramaic Bible 2 (2000): 89–119.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Review of Steven Fine, Art and Judaism in the Greco-Roman World: Toward a New Jewish Archaeology, 2nd ed. (In preparation)” Images: A Journal of Jewish Art and Visual Culture, n.d.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Stages of Grief: Enacting Laments in Late Ancient Hymnography (In preparation).” Ajs Review, n.d.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Theater of the Holy: Jewish Piyyut, Christian Hymnography, and the Rhetoric of the Late Ancient Stage (In preparation).” Harvard Theological Review, n.d.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Telling a Liturgical Tale: Storytelling in Early Jewish Liturgical Poetry (In preparation).” Zeitschrift Für Religions  Und Geistesgeschichte, n.d.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Teaching Jewish Berlin (In preparation).” Andererseits: Yearbook of Transatlantic German Studies, n.d.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Singing the Body Organic: Corruption and Creation in Two Late Ancient Hymns (Submitted).” Dumbarton Oaks Papers, n.d.
    • Lieber, L. S. “From Payyetan to Troubadour: Traces of Early Piyyut in Medieval Lyric Poetry (In preparation),” n.d.

  • Book Sections

    • Lieber, L. S. “Sukkot in the Garden of Eden: Liturgy, Christianity, and the Bronze Bird on Mount Gerizim.” In The Samaritans: A Biblical People, 94–101, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004466913_010.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “No translation needed: Hebrew in two Samaritan aramaic hymns.” In The Poet and the World: Festschrift for Wout van Bekkum on the Occasion of His Sixty-Fifth Birthday, 161–82, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110599237-011.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “Entering the High Holy Days.” In Mishkan Ha-Nefesh, xvii–xix. New York: Central Conference of American Rabbis, 2015.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Piyyut (Jewish Liturgical and Secular Poetry) (In preparation).” In The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Oxford: Blackwell, 2015.
    • Lieber, Laura S. “The Piyyutim le-Hatan of Qallir and Amittai - Jewish Marriage Customs in Early Byzantium.” edited by S. Fine and A. Koller, 73:275–99. WALTER DE GRUYTER GMBH, 2014.
       Link to Item
    • Lieber, L. S. “The Poetry of Creation: Zevadiah and Amittai’s Yotzerot le-Hatan (Groom’s Yotzers).” In Recent Developments in Midrash, edited by David Nelson and Rikva Ulmer. Gorgias Press, 2013.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Kedushah.” In Cambridge Dictionary of Ancient Mediterranean Religions, edited by Lisbeth Fried, Nicola Denzy Lewis, and Michael Satlow. Cambridge UP, 2013.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Jewish Women: Texts and Contexts.” In A Companion to Women in the Ancient World, 329–42, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444355024.ch24.
       Full Text
    • Lieber, L. S. “Piyyut.” In Oxford Bibliographies Online. Oxford UP, 2012.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Piyyut (Jewish Liturgical and Secular Poetry).” In The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Blackwell / Oxford UP, 2012.
    • Lieber, L. S. ““Dew of Rest: The World of Nature in Qallir’s Gevurot shel Tal".” In Menachem Schmelzer Festschrift, edited by Debra Blank, 167–83. Brill, 2011.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Jewish Women.” In The Blackwell Companion to Women in the Ancient World, edited by Sheila Dillon and Sharon James, 329–42. Blackwell / Oxford UP, 2011.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Piyyut.” In Cambridge Dictionary of Jewish Religion, History, and Culture, edited by Judith Baskin, 479–80. Cambridge UP, 2011.
    • Lieber, L. S. “The Song of Songs.” In Cambridge Dictionary of Jewish Religion, History, and Culture, edited by Judith Baskin, 552–53. Cambridge UP, 2011.
    • Lieber, L. S. ““Piyyut (Jewish Liturgical and Secular Poetry)".” In The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, edited by Gideon Bohak. Blackwell / Oxford UP, 2011.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Confessions from A-Z: Penitential Forms in Early Synagogue Poetry.” In Penitential Prayer: Origins, Development, and Impact, edited by M. Boda, D. Falk, and R. Werline, 99–125. Atlanta: Society of Bibilical Literature, 2008.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Post-Biblical Exegesis: Parashat Tetzaveh.” In The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, edited by Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Andrea Weiss, 490–91. URJ Press / Women of Reform Judaism, 2008.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Penitential Themes in Early Synagogue Poetry.” In Penitential Prayer: Origins, Development, and Impact, edited by Mark J. Boda, Daniel K. Falk, and Rodney Werline, 3:99–125. SBL / Brill, 2008.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Piyyut.” In The Encyclopedia of Judaism, 3:2000–2019. Leidden: Brill, 2005.
    • Lieber, L. S. “‘O, my dove in the cranny of the rocks, let me see your face!’ Targum, piyyut, and the literary life of the ancient synagogue.” In Paratext and Megatext As Channels of Jewish and Christian Traditions, edited by August A den Hollander, Ulrich B. Schmid, and Willem Frederik Smelik. BRILL, 2003.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Jewish Worship (In preparation).” In The Dictionary of the Bible in Ancient Media, edited by E. Stern, R. Person, C. Keith, and T. Thatcher. London: T&T Clark, n.d.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Stage Mothers: Performing the Matriarchs in Genesis Rabbah and Yannai (In preparation).” In Genesis Rabbah Conference Volume, edited by P. Schaefer, M. Himmelfarb, and S. Kattan. Berlin & New York: de Gruyter, n.d.
    • Lieber, L. S. “Kedushah (In preparation).” In Cambridge Dictionary of Ancient Mediterranean Religions, n.d.

Some information on this profile has been compiled automatically from Duke databases and external sources. (Our About page explains how this works.) If you see a problem with the information, please write to Scholars@Duke and let us know. We will reply promptly.