Hebrew Union College Announces New Tenured Faculty

Hebrew Union College proudly announces that its Board of Governors, acting on the recommendation of the faculty, Provost, and President, has awarded tenure to three exceptional faculty members. AJ Berkovitz, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Liturgy and Ancient Judaism; Gordon Dale, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Jewish Musicology and Dr. Jack Gottlieb Scholar in Jewish Music Studies; and Rabbi Joseph Skloot, Ph.D., Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Associate Professor of Modern Jewish Intellectual History will all become tenured faculty effective July 1, 2026. Their elevation to tenure after a faculty led peer review process reflects the College's deep commitment to scholarly excellence and the vibrant intellectual community they have each helped to shape.

A.J. Berkovitz, Ph.D.

Dr. A.J. Berkovitz, who joined the faculty of the College in 2018, is an expert in ancient Jewish history and culture. His research spans Jewish texts, traditions, and history from the formation of the Hebrew Bible until the rise of Islam and focuses on questions that pertain to the topics of material history, textual authority, translation, ritual performance, and inter-religious discourse. His recent monograph, A Life of Psalms in Jewish Late Antiquity (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023), explores the history of Psalm reception in late ancient Judaism through the lenses of materiality, exegesis, liturgy, piety, and magic. The book received an Association for Jewish Studies Jordan Schnitzer First Book Award, and in 2024 received an Honorable Mention in the American Academy for Jewish Research's Salo Baron Prize. He co-edited the work Rethinking 'Authority' in Late Antiquity: Authorship, Law and Transmission in Jewish and Christian Tradition (London: Routledge, 2018) and is the author of more than thirty academic articles and popular essays. His article, "Psalm 45 between Abraham and Jesus: A Palestinian Rabbinic Polemic and its Shelf Life," received the Compendia Rerium Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum Essay Prize. Professor Berkovitz is an occasional contributor to popular publications such as Tablet Magazine and the Jewish Review of Books.

Berkovitz received his B.A. in Jewish Studies and an M.A. in Bible from Yeshiva University, and his Ph.D. from Princeton University. He was a Starr Fellow at Harvard University's Center for Jewish Studies and a Wexner Graduate Fellow.

Gordon Dale, Ph.D.

Gordon Dale, Ph.D., began teaching in the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music in Fall 2014 and was named the inaugural Dr. Jack Gottlieb Scholar in Jewish Music Studies in 2022. Professor Dale's scholarship focuses primarily on the role of music in the American Orthodox Jewish community, with a special concentration on nigunim (Jewish sacred melodies) in Hasidic communities. His published work includes his recent book,  A Life in Music: Ben Zion Shenker and Hasidic Song in America (Jewish Music Research Centre, 2025), as well as the forthcoming complete collection of Shenker's compositions. Additionally, he has published articles in leading peer-reviewed journals and edited collections, including "'Evolution of Jewish Music': Discourse Communities and Narrative Construction in the Performance of Music History" and "Kosher Music, Kosher Space, and the Ethnographic Study of Orthodox Jewish Life." Dale also serves as the Co-Executive Director of the Jewish Music Forum, the academic arm of the American Society for Jewish Music.

Dale received a B.S. in Music from Northeastern University, followed by an M.A. in Music from Tufts University, and a Ph.D. in Music with a concentration in Ethnomusicology from The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Rabbi Joseph Skloot, Ph.D.

Rabbi Joseph Skloot, Ph.D., is the Rabbi Aaron D. Panken Associate Professor of Modern Jewish Intellectual History and serves as the Associate Director of the Tisch/Star Fellowship program. Skloot is a historian of Jewish culture and religious thought in the early modern and modern periods. His research explores the history of Hebrew books, Jewish-Christian relations, the development of Jewish law, and Reform Jewish theology. Rabbi Skloot earned his A.B. in History from Princeton University, his rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union College, and his Ph.D. in Jewish History from Columbia University. He received the Association for Jewish Studies' prestigious Jordan Schnitzer First Book Publication Award in 2023 for his book, First Impressions: Sefer Ḥasidim and Early Modern Hebrew Printing (Brandeis, 2023). At Hebrew Union College, Skloot has served as Vice Chair of the Rabbinical School Curiculum Redesign Task Force and helped develop its signature course, Jewish Textual Interpretation. Prior to his appointment to Hebrew Union College's faculty in 2018, Skloot served as Associate Rabbi at Washington Hebrew Congregation in Washington, D.C.

President Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D. remarked "I am delighted to congratulate three exceptional faculty members whose scholarship, teaching, and presence have enriched Hebrew Union College in lasting ways. It is a pleasure to recognize the excellence and dedication that have earned Professors Berkovitz, Dale, and Skloot the rightful distinction of tenure. Through their research, evolving pedagogy, and deep commitment to students, they strengthen HUC's role as a laboratory for academic inquiry, spiritual exploration, and cultural creativity-where we study, create, and learn to apply Jewish wisdom to the most pressing challenges of our day. We are proud to welcome them as tenured members of our faculty and grateful for the many ways they shape our shared intellectual and communal life.

Judah M. Cohen, Ph.D., Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandell Provost noted, "This is a tremendous milestone for professors Berkovitz, Dale, and Skloot, and for all Hebrew Union College. Tenure represents our vote of confidence in a faculty member's accomplishments and future, and these three have earned it through years of outstanding scholarship, inspired teaching, and unwavering commitment to our mission. I could not be more pleased to celebrate this achievement with them today. The College is a stronger, more vibrant institution because of them, and we look forward to all that lies ahead."