Professor
(716) 878-5136
podetah@buffalostate.edu
D.D., Honorary, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
Ph.D., Modern Jewish History and Zionism, University of Washington
D.H.L., History and Rabbinics, Hebrew Union College
Cirriculum Vitae
Areas of Interest
World Religions, Jewish Philosophy (including contemporary movements), Islam
Dr. Allen Podet offers courses in religious studies, such as Holocaust, Mysticism, World Religions, Old Testament, Jewish Thought, and on one occasion, Islam. He has studied at Hebrew Union College (Cincinnati), Hebrew University (Jerusalem), University of Washington (Seattle), and Tantur Institute (Jerusalem). He holds graduate degrees (3 doctorates, 2 masters, and a graduate bachelors) in religious and Near Eastern studies.
His special interests are medieval Jewish thought and Jewish history (1st Century and modern), Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Islamic relations.
Podet is the Founding Principal of the Abraham Geiger College at the University of Potsdam (Germany), the first (and so far the only) liberal Jewish seminary on the Continent since World War II and the Holocaust. He taught at the Leo Baeck College (London), U.S. Naval War College (Newport), and at the University of Washington before coming to Buffalo. He has lectured frequently in Germany, Austria, Central Europe, England, and the U.S.
He is faculty advisor to the Islamic Students Organization, and to the Jewish Students Organization. He teaches Therapeutic Riding for the Handicapped, serves as Chaplain for the VA Hospital, and rides.
Books
Structural Analysis: The Historiographic Method of Ellis Rivkin. Edited by Allen Podet and with an Introduction by David Ellenson. Potsdam, Germany: The Abraham Geiger College Press, 2002.
A Translation of the Magen Wa-Hereb of Leon Modena: Christianity through the Eyes of a Rabbi. Critical text, monograph on the Life and Times of Leon Modena, Chief Rabbi of Renaissance Venice, and analysis and discussion of the text. Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2001.
Success and Failure of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, 1945-1946: Last Chance in Palestine. Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987.
Articles
“Rabbis from the Margins." A solicited evaluation of the Leo Baeck College. Manna, 55:1 (Spring, 1997).
"Introduction to American Islam for Social Service Workers" and “Resources on Islam for American Social Service Workers.” Buffalo: Center for Development of Human Services, 1997.
“Patterns of Classical Islam and Some American ‘Black Muslims’.” Religious Education, Vol. 89, No. 3 (Summer, 1994).
"The Gulf War: Religious and Cultural Considerations.” Address before the Arizona Honors Academy. Published as Chapter 10 (pp. 210-232) in: Carol Rae Hanson, ed., The New World Order: Rethinking America’s Global Role. Flagstaff: Arizona Honors Academy Press, 1992.
"Honesty and Reality." An invited response to the Manna "Collective Theological Essay." Manna Theology Supplement p. 4. Manna, Vol. 1, No. 31 (Spring, 1991).
"Zionism." Article in The Harry S. Truman Encyclopedia. Published: August, 1989.
"American Holocaust Textbooks: Essay Review." European Judaism, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Winter 1986).
"La Croix's Paradox: An Analysis." International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion, Vol. 18, No. 69-72 (1985).
"Four Problems in Near East Analyses: Afterthoughts on the Heradstveit Symposium." Journal of Political and Military Sociology, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Fall, 1982).
"Husni al-Barazi on Arab Nationalism in Palestine," in Zionism and Arabism in Palestine and Israel, pp. 171-182. Edited by Elie Kedourie and Sylvia G. Haim. London, Frank Cass, 1982.
"Anti-Zionism in a Key United States Diplomat: Loy Henderson at the End of World War II." American Jewish Archives, Vol. 30, No. 2 (November, 1978).
"The Unwilling Midwife: Ernest Bevin and the Birth of Israel" (The Eighth Annual Van Der Zyl Lecture, London). European Judaism, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Winter, 1977).
"Ein historischer Zugang zu einem Philosophen: Moses Maimonides in seiner Zeit." Emuna, Vol. 4, No. 77 (Winter, 1977).
"Hitpathutah shel temunat 'eliyahu besifrut midreshe tehillim." Proceedings and Papers of the Second World Congress for Jewish Folklore Research. Haifa, Yeda Am (March, 1961).
Book Reviews
“All the Nations Under Heaven: an Ethnic and Racial History of New York” by Frederick M. Binder an David M. Reimers. Italian Quarterly, Vol. 42, No. 163-164 (Winter-Spring, 2005).
“Portrait of American Jews: The Last Half of the Twentieth Century“ by Samuel Heileman. European Judaism 29:2, Vol. 57 (Autumn, 1996), pp. 148-150.
"Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: The Classical Texts and their Interpretation" 3 Vols., Vol. 1: "From Covenant to Community" by Francis E. Peters. The Navy Chaplain, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Spring/Summer, 1991).
"The Autobiography of a Seventeenth Century Venetian Rabbi: Leon Modena's Life of Judah" ed. and trans. by Mark R. Cohen. European Judaism, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Spring, 1990). Issue No. 44.
"Zionism and Arab Nationalism: Origin and Evolution of the Conflict" by Michael J. Cohen. European Judaism, Vol. XX, No. XX (Winter, 1990).
"Cross-Culture Theology: Western Reflections in Asia" by Daniel J. Adams. The Navy Chaplain, Vol. 2, No. 5 (Winter, 1988).
"The Jews of Europe and the Inquisition of Venice, 1655-1670" by Brian Pullan. Italian Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 107 (Winter, 1987).
"Forms of Prayer: Daily, Sabbath and Occasional Prayers" edited by The Assembly of Rabbis of the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain. Review article: "Reform Prayers." Midstream, Vol. 27, No. 8 (October, 1981).
"Four Hasidic Masters and their Struggle Against Melancholy" by Elie Wiesel. European Judaism, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Autumn, 1979).
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