Dov Schwartz

Dov Schwartz (, born August 16, 1961) is an Israeli professor of Jewish thought and former dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Bar-Ilan University. In 2015, he was awarded the Emet Prize in Jewish Thought, and he received the Israel Prize in Jewish Thought for the year 2023.

Biography Schwartz was born and raised in Haifa as the only child of Holocaust survivors. He attended both Yavne High School and the Reali School alternately, and was an active member of the Bnei Akiva youth movement. He continued his studies at Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh, where he authored several articles on the thought of Rabbi David Cohen (known as "The Nazir").

Career In 1986, Schwartz began his studies at Bar-Ilan University. During his second year, he was unexpectedly appointed to teach three courses in place of an ailing lecturer. Approximately four years after commencing his academic studies, he completed his doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Professor Abraham Noriel, entitled "The Philosophical–Religious Thought of Rabbi Samuel ibn Seneh Zarza". He later served as the head of the Department of Jewish Philosophy at Bar-Ilan University and as the dean of its Faculty of Humanities.

Schwartz has authored over 30 books and around 200 articles. His work spans a wide range of periods in Jewish thought—from medieval thinkers to modern Jewish philosophy and postmodern perspectives. His primary research interests include medieval Jewish philosophy, the thought of Religious Zionism, and Chabad Hasidism, among others. He has also extensively examined the thought of Rabbi Joseph Dov Soloveitchik and currently heads the chair for teaching his thought at Bar-Ilan University.

Personal life Schwartz lives in Givat Shmue l with his wife, Gila, and their six children. Ramat-Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 2001 [Heb].

Articles in English

“‘Kol Dodi Dofek’: A Religious-Zionist Alternative”. Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought 39, no. 3 (2006): 59–72. “From Theurgy to Magic: The Evolution of the Magical-Talismanic Justification of Sacrifice in the Circle of Nahmanides and His Interpreters”. Aleph, no. 1 (2001): 165–213. “The Debate over the Maimonidean Theory of Providence in Thirteenth-Century Jewish Philosophy.” Jewish Studies Quarterly 2, no. 2 (1995): 185–96.