ɬÀï·¬ÏÂÔØ

Theresa O'KeefeÌýis an associate professor of the practice of youth and young adult faith at the ɬÀï·¬ÏÂÔØ School of Theology and Ministry, where she also leads the Contextual Education program, in which students use field opportunities to develop their praxis. Both of these focuses are shaped and informed by her years of experience working in and around Catholic parishes, schools, and dioceses. She publishedÌýNavigating toward Adulthood: A Theology of Ministry with AdolescentsÌý(Paulist Press, 2018). She is currently working on a project with colleagues in the School of Education MESA department, developing a quantitative tool to measure student development. Her research interests include, youth and young adult faith; developmental theory; and religious educational formation. O'Keefe received her M.Ed. and Ph.D. from ɬÀï·¬ÏÂÔØ (Theology and Education).

RabbiÌýBenjamin SamuelsÌýhas served as rabbi of Congregation Shaarei Tefillah of Newton Centre since 1995. He earned his rabbinical ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University; holds a PhD in Science, Philosophy, and Religion from Boston University, a MA in Biblical Studies and Medieval Jewish History, and a BA in English Literature from Yeshiva University. He teaches widely in the Greater Boston Jewish community.

Ruth LangerÌý(convener)ÌýisÌýProfessor of Jewish Studies in the Theology Department at ɬÀï·¬ÏÂÔØ and Interim Director of itsÌýCenter for Christian-Jewish Learning. She received her Ph.D. in Jewish Liturgy in 1994 and her rabbinic ordination in 1986 from Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

She writes and speaks in two major areas: the development of Jewish liturgy and ritual; and Christian-Jewish relations. Her book,ÌýÌý(Oxford University Press, 2012), combines these two interests, tracing the transformations of a Jewish prayer that was, until modernity, a curse of Christians. Drawing on all available evidence, its chapters present the history of the text and the polemics around it from its putative origins in the early rabbinic period, through its censorship by the church, to its modern emergence into an inoffensive prayer that asks God to rid the world of evil.

She is also author ofÌýÌýpublished in 1998 (Hebrew Union College Press). This book examines the interplay between liturgical law and custom in the medieval world, investigating the tensions between rabbinic dictates and the actual practices and understandings of the community. Most recently, she publishedÌýÌý(Rowman & Littlefield, 2015), an annotated bibliography of over 1000 entries of English-language studies of Jewish liturgy accessible to those from outside the Jewish Studies world. She also co-editedÌýLiturgy in the Life of the SynagogueÌý(Eisenbrauns, 2005) and has published a long list of articles.