Joab Eichenberg-Eilon

A Few Words About Me

נְצֹ֣ר לְשׁוֹנְךָ֣ מֵרָ֑ע וּ֝שְׂפָתֶ֗יךָ מִדַּבֵּ֥ר מִרְמָֽה: ס֣וּר מֵ֭רָע וַֽעֲשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב בַּקֵּ֖שׁ שָׁל֣וֹם וְרָדְפֵֽהוּ ” תהלים לג יג-יד

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” Ps. 34:13-14 [RSV]

Dr. Eichenberg-Eilon is a Professor of Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic at the Israel Institute of Biblical Studies, teaching for-credit and noncredit groups in English and French.

“For me, the Bible and Hebrew are like a spring of water which, the more you draw from it, the more it flows. Likewise, teaching the same lesson, the same verse, the same word again and again, I always find something new, and my best teachers are my students. How true are the words of the sage Ben Zoma, who used to say אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם ‘Who can become wise? He who learns from everyone’ (Mishnah, Avot, 4).”

Education

Joab earned his doctoral degree at EHESS (École des hautes études en sciences sociales) in Paris, France, and also holds a B.A from the Hebrew University (Israel), an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France and Rabbinic Ordination from HUC-JIR (Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion) in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Trained at the Division of Hebrew Language Instruction of the Hebrew University School for Overseas Students (now the Rothberg International School), he is also a certified oral and written Hebrew proficiency tester for ACTFL (The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages).

Professional Experience

Before joining the Israel Institute of Biblical Studies, and after his graduation and ordination at HUC in 2000, Dr. Eichenberg-Eilon taught Hebrew, Jewish studies, Jewish education, Israel studies, and Middle Eastern studies in universities and colleges in Ohio, Kentucky, and Georgia, USA. He was an Israeli diplomat, senior official at Israel’s science ministry, and senior research fellow in several Israeli think-tanks. He is also a professional translator, primarily between Hebrew and English and from French, German, and Dutch.