Wendy
Zierler

Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion
Thomas and Elissa Ellant Katz Fellow

Research Topic

Elu v'Elu: Gendered Fictions of Illness by S. Y. Agnon and Devorah Baron

Bio

Wendy Zierler is the Sigmund Falk Professor of Modern Jewish Literature and Feminist Studies at HUC–JIR in New York. A literary historian and fiction writer, Zierler has focused on, among other things, questions of gender in modern Hebrew fiction and poetry. Her book, Movies and Midrash: Popular Film and Jewish Religious Conversation (SUNY Press) was a finalist for the 2017 National Jewish Book Award. Her project this year will focus on the metaphorics of illness in Baron and Agnon.

Zierler received her Ph.D. from Princeton University, her M.F.A. in Fiction Writing from Sarah Lawrence College, and rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Maharat.

Fellowship

2024–2025

Exploring health through the intersection between bodies and systems, language and physicality, religion and science, and beyond.