Biography
Goldstein has been an adjunct faculty member in the Jewish Studies Program since its inception in 1982. He is Rabbi Emeritus of the historic New Orleans Touro Synagogue and a graduate of the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion. He received his Ph.D. from St. Mary's Seminary and University in consortium with the Baltimore Hebrew College. His area of specialization is Medieval Jewish Cultural History and Philosophy with an emphasis on the Golden Age of Spanish Judaism. In the last few years he has published articles on three medieval Spanish cities: Lucena, Burgos and Tortosa.
Interests
Medieval and Modern European History
Professor Goldstein’s courses focus primarily on the medieval and early modern period. He teaches about Spanish Jewry, introducing students to a unique period of Jewish cultural advancement under Moslem rule, as well as dramatic religious disputations under Christianity. His teaching also explores the writings of Jewish scholars of the Middle Ages against the backdrop of the worlds that produced them, as well as the Jewish experiences in Renaissance Italy, of Eastern European Hassidism, and of the German Enlightenment. Professor Goldstein’s courses also tell the story of the modernization of Judaism and the processes of acculturation and assimilation.