Biographical note

Simcha Fishbane, PhD, is Professor of Jewish Studies at the Touro College Graduate School of Jewish Studies. He has been a rabbi, scholar, and educator serving the Jewish community for many years. Professor Fishbane is the author of numerous books and articles on such diverse topics as Mishnah Berurah, Aruch Hashulchan, Mishnah, Talmud, and Jewish custom and ritual, as well as contemporary Jewish life in North America. He is co-editor of Touro College Press and the Editor in Chief of the journal "Studies in Judaism, Humanities and the Social Sciences." He has served Touro College in its overseas campuses in countries such as Russia, Germany, France, and Italy, and also holds the position of Special Assistant to the President of Touro College. Eric Levine, DSW, LMSW, is Director, Social Work Alumni Engagement, Continuing Education and Financial Resource Development, as well as a faculty member at the Touro College Graduate School of Social Work, where he teaches courses in social welfare policy and ethics. He has held leadership roles for major not for profit organizations with recognized expertise in communal planning and policy, organizational and communal change, and financial resource development. He also taught as an adjunct professor for over twenty years at Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work, teaching courses in ethics, social policy, organizational theory, ethnicity, administrative practice, and community relations. He has authored numerous articles, book chapters and papers, and co-editor of the journal "Studies in Judaism, Humanities and the Social Sciences." His current research interests focus on contentious politics, organizations, social movements, and ethics. He co-edited with Fishbane the two-volume work "Contention, Controversy and Change: Evolutions and Revolutions in the Jewish Experience," published by Touro College Press in 2016.