Pelli, Moshe 1936–

PERSONAL: Born May 19, 1936, in Haifa, Israel; came to the United States as a student, 1957, naturalized U.S. citizen; son of Shmuel and Golda Peltz; married Dalia Potaznik, May 28, 1961; children: Leemour, Daniel. Education: New York University, B.S., 1960; Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning (now Annenberg Research Institute, University of Pennsylvania), Ph.D., 1967.

ADDRESSES: Home—Winter Park, FL. Office—Judaic Studies Program, College of Arts and Humanities, University of Central Florida, P.O. Box 161992, Orlando, FL 32816-1992. E-mail—[email protected]. ucf.edu.

CAREER: University of Texas at Austin, Austin, assistant professor of Hebrew, 1967–71, coordinator of Hebrew language program, 1969; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel, senior lecturer in Hebrew literature, 1971–74; Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, associate professor of modern Hebrew language and literature, 1974–78, coordinator of Hebrew language program, 1975–77; Yeshiva University, Erna Michael College, New York, NY, associate professor of modern Hebrew language and literature, 1978–84; University of Central Florida, Orlando, associate professor, 1985–88, professor of Judaic studies, 1989–, Abe and Tess Wise Endowed Professor of Judaic Studies, 2004–, director of Judaic studies program, 1985–. Rice University, visiting lecturer, summers, 1970–71; Hebrew University of Jerusalem, visiting senior lecturer, 1971–72, visiting scholar at Institute of Jewish Studies, 1991 and 2006–07; Teachers College, Beer Sheva, visiting senior lecturer, 1973–74; visiting professor at University of Melbourne, 1977–78, and Brooklyn College and Herbert H. Lehman College of the City University of New York, both 1979–80; Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies, visiting scholar, summer, 1984, and 1991; fellow of the Moses Mendelssohn Center, University of Potsdam, Germany, 2000. Executive director of Hebrew Month, an educational and literary project, and Hanoar Haivri, a Hebrew youth organization, both 1962–66; Hebrew Day School of Central Florida, member of board of directors, 1986–. Member of editorial board, Lamishpaha, 1984–, Kesher, 2005, and Hebrew Higher Education, 2005; Hebrew Studies, member of editorial advisory board, 1988–.

MEMBER: World Union of Jewish Studies, American Academy of Religion, American Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies, National Association of Professors of Hebrew (member of executive council, 1978–84 and 1988–; vice president, 2005), Association for Jewish Studies, American Academy for Jewish Research, Hebrew Language and Culture Association (member of executive council, 1978–84), Quill.

AWARDS, HONORS: Short story prize from Haboker, 1955; travel grants from American Council of Learned Societies, 1971 and 1977; grants from Florida Endowment for the Humanities, 1985–86, and T.O.P. Jewish Foundation, 1986–87; citation for service, Adult Institute for Jewish Life, 1987; Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, endowment to establish a Judaica book fund, 1990, grants, 1992, 2005; Florida-Israel Institute grant, 1991; Joseph Meyerhoff Fund grant, 1991; Abraham Friedman Prize for Hebrew Culture in America, Hebrew Language and Culture Association of America, 1992, for life-long contributions to Hebrew culture; I. Edward Kiev Library Foundation grants, 1995, 2005; University of Central Florida, distinguished researcher of the year, 1996 and 2006, excellence award in research, 1996, professional excellence award, 1998, research initiative award, 2006; "Amos Fund" Award from the president of Israel, 1997;.

WRITINGS:

Al de'ateft (novel; title means "For Drowning Others Thou Wast Drowned"), Alil (New York, NY), 1961.

Elohim bamahapechet (novel; title means "God Imprisoned"), Alef (Tel Aviv, Israel), 1965.

The Impact of Deism on the Hebrew Literature of the Enlightenment in Germany, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beer Sheva, Israel), 1971.

Naphtali Herz Wessely's Attitude toward the Jewish Religion as a Mirror of a Generation in Transition (During the Early Period of Hebrew Haskalah in Germany), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beer Sheva, Israel), 1971.

The Hebrew Story in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (textbook), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beer Sheva, Israel), 1971.

The Hebrew Satire in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (textbook), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beer Sheva, Israel), 1971.

Moshe Mendelssohn: Bechavlei masoret (title means "Moses Mendelssohn: Bonds of Tradition"), Alef (Tel Aviv, Israel), 1972.

Introduction to Modern Hebrew Literature in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Akademon (Jerusalem, Israel), 1972.

Mordechai Gumpel Schnaber: The First Religious Reformer of the Hebrew Haskalah in Germany, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beer Sheva, Israel), 1972.

The Attitude of the First Maskilim toward the Hebrew Language, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beer Sheva, Israel), 1972.

Isaac Satanow's 'Mishlei Asaf' as Reflecting the Ideology of the German Hebrew Haskalah, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beer Sheva, Israel), 1972.

The Age of Haskalah: Studies in Hebrew Literature of the Enlightenment in Germany, E.J. Brill (Leiden, Netherlands), 1979, revised edition, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 2006.

Getting By in Hebrew, Barron's (New York, NY), 1984.

Bema'avqei temurah: Studies in Hebrew Enlightenment Literature (title means "Struggle for Change"), University Publishing (Tel Aviv, Israel), 1988.

Hatarbut Ha'ivrit Ba'America, 80 Shnot Hatenu'ah Ha'ivrit Be'artzot Habrit (title means "Hebrew Culture in America, Eighty Years of Hebrew Culture in the United States"), Reshafim Publishers (Tel Aviv, Israel), 1998.

Sugot vesugyot besifrut ha Haskalah ha Ivrit: ha genre ha maskili (title means "Kinds of Genres in Haskalah Literature: Types and Topics"), Hakibutz Hame'uchad (Tel Aviv, Israel), 1999.

Shaar le haskalah: mafteah muar leha Measef, ketav ha et ha Ivri ha rishon (title means "The Gate to Haskalah"), Hotsaat sefarim Y.L. Magnes, ha Universitah ha Ivrit (Jerusalem, Israel), 2000.

Dor ha-Measfim be-shahar ha-Haskalah: terumatam ha-sifrutit shel halutse ha-Measef, ketav ha et ha-Ivri harishon la-Haskalah ha-Ivrit be-reshitah (title means "The Measefim Generation at the Dawn of Haskalah: The Literary Contribution of the Writers of 'Hame'asef,' the First Hebrew Periodical, 1783–1811"), Hakibutz Hame'uchad (Israel), 2001.

Bikurei Ha'itim the "First Fruits" of Haskalah (in Hebrew), Magnes Press (Jerusalem, Israel), 2005.

In Search of Genres: Hebrew Enlightenment and Modernity, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 2005.

Contributor of over 200 research articles, short stories, reviews, and bibliographies to periodicals. Editor, Niv, 1957–66; Lamishpaha, founding editor, 1964–66, editor, 1983–85.

CHILDREN'S BOOKS; IN HEBREW WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Giborei Hag Getto (title means "Heroes of the Ghetto"), Histadruth Ivrith, Hebrew Language and Culture Association (New York, NY), 1963.

Ha Ayarah (title means "The Stetle"), Histadruth Ivrith, Hebrew Language and Culture Association (New York, NY), 1964.

Ivrit baolam hehadash, Hotsaat ha Hodesh ha Ivri mitaam ha Histadrut ha Ivrit ba Amerikah ve Keren hatarbut ha Ivrit be Kanadah (New York, NY), 1965.

Hebrew in the New World, Histadruth Ivrith, Hebrew Language and Culture Association (New York, NY), 1965.

Shalom Aleichem (biography), Histadruth Ivrith, Hebrew Language and Culture Association (New York, NY), 1966.

Itzhak Ben Tzvi (biography), Lador (New York, NY), 1971.

Shalom (title means "Peace"), Histadruth Ivrith, Hebrew Language and Culture Association (New York, NY), 1980.

SIDELIGHTS: Moshe Pelli once told CA: "I enjoy my cavalcade into the eighteenth century, when modern phenomena in Judaism began."