Chair, Department of Modern Jewish Civilization and Associate Professor of Jewish Mysticism
215-576-0800 X217
jhecker@rrc.edu

Joel Hecker, Ph.D., received his doctorate in Judaic studies, specializing in Jewish mysticism, from New York University. A graduate of the University of Toronto, Hecker received rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and a master's degree in Jewish philosophy from the Bernard Revel Graduate School-both institutions at Yeshiva University. He has served as a visiting instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, The Jewish Theological Seminary and Yeshiva University. Hecker has lectured at the University of Minnesota, Lehigh University and York University, as well as at Hillel Houses and synagogues of diverse Jewish movements around North America. He also has served on the faculty at the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning at Temple Emanu-el and the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education in New York City.

Hecker has published widely, most recently assessing the new Zohar translation and addressing topics such as kissing in the kabbalah. His first book is Mystical Bodies, Mystical Meals: Eating and Embodiment in Medieval Kabbalah (Wayne State University Press, 2004). Hecker is completing a translation of The Book of the Angel Raziel, an anthology of magical and mystical works that serves as an amulet to protect the owner from fire, demons and other supernatural threats. His scholarly interests include ritual, embodiment and hermeneutics in kabbalah.