Meir Bar-Asher

Meir M. Bar-Asher
מאיר בר-אשר
Born	1955 Errachidia, Tafilalt, Morocco
Nationality	Israeli
Alma mater	Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Occupation	Professor of Islamic Studies
Employer	Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Spouse	Ruth
Children	4
Parent(s)	Sarah and Abraham Ben-Harush
Relatives	Dr. Shalom Bar-Asher, Professor Moshe Bar-Asher
Awards	Michael Milken Prize for Excellence in Teaching

Meir M. Bar-Asher (מאיר בר-אשר born 1955) is a Professor of Islamic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the current chair of the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the same university. His research interests focus on Quran exegesis, religious communities within Islam, particularly Twelver Shi'ism and the Nusayri-'Alawi religion, and the religious and historical interactions between Judaism and Islam.

Biography

Meir Bar-Asher was born in the city of Errachidia in the Tafilalt province of southeastern Morocco to Sarah and Abraham Ben-Harush. His father, a rabbi, made a living as a scribe and was a student of Rabbi Israel Abuhatzeira. Bar-Asher immigrated to Israel with his family when he was eight months old. He grew up in Jerusalem and attended high school at the "Himmelfarb" high school in Jerusalem.

Meir Bar-Asher completed all his academic studies, from a bachelor's degree to a doctorate, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1978 in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature and the Department of Jewish Philosophy and Kabbalah. He pursued his master's degree in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature. His thesis, supervised by Professor Shlomo Pines, was titled "Studies in the Ethical Theory of Abu Bakr al-Razi." In 1982, he was awarded the Rothschild Fellowship. Following his MA, he spent an academic year (1982-1983) in Paris, studying at the University of Paris (Sorbonne) and the École Pratique des Hautes Études. His doctoral dissertation, supervised by Professor Etan Kohlberg, focused on "Issues in Early Imami Shi'i Quranic Exegesis (3rd-4th Centuries AH/9th-10th Centuries CE)." The doctorate was approved in 1991 with highest honors. From 1982 to 1983, Bar-Asher served as the secretary of the "Israeli Oriental Society," and later as a research assistant and assistant professor in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the Hebrew University from 1983 to 1992.

In 1992, he was appointed as a lecturer at the Hebrew University. He served as the head of the Department of Arabic Language and Literature from 2000 to 2002, and then as the head of the Institute of Asian and African Studies from 2004 to 2006. In 2003, he was promoted to associate professor and in 2007 was chosen to hold the Max Schloessinger Chair in Islamic Studies. In 2007, he received the Michael Milken Prize for Excellence in Teaching for three consecutive years. From September 2002 to March 2003, he co-led a research group at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University with Professor Etan Kohlberg. The group's research topic was "Exclusivity and Universality in Shi`i Islam."

In October 2008, he was elected for a second term as head of the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the Hebrew University, a position he held until October 2010. From September 2010 to March 2011, he co-led a research group at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University with Professor Mordechai Cohen, a Bible scholar from Yeshiva University in New York. The group's research topic was "Encountering Scripture in Overlapping Cultures: Early Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Strategies of Reading and Their Contemporary Implications." Alongside his work at the Hebrew University, Meir Bar-Asher served as deputy head of the Ben-Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East from 1994 to 1997, and later as head of the institute from 2014 to 2015. For five years (1998-2003), he was the editor of the journal "Sefunot: An Annual for Research on the Jewish Communities in the East," published by the Ben-Zvi Institute.

Administrative Roles

In addition to his research and teaching, Bar-Asher has held several administrative positions:

• Director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2004-2006)
• Chair of the Senior Professional Committee for the Teaching of Arabic at the Ministry of Education (2011-2012)
• Director of the Ben-Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities in the East (2012-2014) He continues to be actively involved in numerous important committees at the Hebrew University and other institutions in Israel.

Personal life

Bar-Asher and his wife Ruth have four children and seven grandchildren. He is the brother of Dr. Shalom Bar-Asher, a historian of North African Jewry, and Professor Moshe Bar-Asher, President of the Academy of the Hebrew Language.

Notable works

• ''Scripture and Exegesis in Early Shi'ism'' (Leiden and Jerusalem, 1999)
• ''The Nusayri-'Alawi Religion: An Enquiry into Its Theology and Liturgy'' (Leiden, 2002) [with A. Kofsky]
• ''Le Shi'isme Imamite: quarante ans après: Hommage à Etan Kohlberg'' (Turnhout, 2009) [with M.A. Amir-Moezzi and S. Hopkins] He has also served as the editor of several academic books and journals. He was the editor of ''Sefunot'' (Studies and Sources on the History of Jewish Communities in the East), published by the Ben-Zvi Institute in Jerusalem, and is currently a joint editor of ''Cathedra for the History of Eretz Israel and its Yishuv'', published by the Yad Ben-Zvi Institute in Jerusalem.

Books

• ''Scripture and Exegesis in Early Imami Shiism'', Jerusalem and Leiden 1999.
• Bar-Asher, Meir M., and Kofsky, Aryeh, ''The Nusayri-Alawi Religion: An Enquiry into its Theology and Liturgy'', Leiden 2002.
• Bar-Asher, Meir M., and Kofsky, Aryeh, ''Kitab al-ma'arif by Abu Sa'id Maymun b. Qasim al-Tabarani, critical edition with an introduction'', Louvain: Peeters, 2011 (forthcoming).