Simon Rabinovitch

Stotsky Associate Professor in Jewish Historical and Cultural Studies

Simon Rabinovitch is the Stotsky Associate Professor of Jewish Historical and Cultural Studies, and he teaches and writes on a range of topics in European, Jewish, Russian, and legal history. His latest book is Sovereignty and Religious Freedom: A Jewish History, published by Yale University Press in November 2025. His other books include Jewish Rights, National Rites: Nationalism and Autonomy in Late Imperial and Russian Jewry and the edited collections Jews and Diaspora Nationalism: Writings on Jewish Peoplehood in Europe and the United States and Defining Israel: The Jewish State, Democracy, and the Law. He is currently working with students on several digital projects including a crowdsourced digital archive of Jewish migration (https://jewishmigration.org) and the website Digital History of the Jews of Boston (https://dhjewsofboston.northeastern.edu/).

View CV

Awards & Honors

Northeastern University Tier 1 Research Grant, 2021.
Israel Institute Faculty Development Grant, 2020.
Henry Luce Foundation/American Council for Learned Societies Fellowship in Religion, Journalism & International Affairs, 2017–2018.
Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2015 (for Jewish Rights, National Rites).
Long List, Historia Nova Prize for the Best Book on Russian Intellectual and Cultural History, 2015 (for Jewish Rights, National Rites).
Jewish Book Council, National Jewish Book Award Finalist in the Category Writing Based on Archival Material, 2014 (for Jewish Rights, National Rites).

Selected Publications

Books:

Prava natsii: Avtonomizm v evreiskom natsional’nom dvizhenii v pozdneimperskoii revoliutsionnoi Rossii [translation of Jewish Rights, National Rites], translated by Evgeniia Kanishcheva, Liubov Summ, and Svetlana Panich, with an introduction by Valerii Dymshits. Moscow: New Literary Observer (Historia Rossica Series), 2021.
Simon Rabinovitch ed., Defining Israel: The Jewish State, Democracy, and the Law. Cincinnati, OH: Hebrew Union College Press, 2018.
Jewish Rights, National Rites: Nationalism and Autonomy in Late Imperial and Revolutionary Russia. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press (Stanford Studies in Jewish History and Culture), 2014; paperback 2016; Russian translation (above) 2021.
Simon Rabinovitch ed., Jews and Diaspora Nationalism: Writings on Jewish Peoplehood in Europe and the United States. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press (The Brandeis Library of Modern Jewish Thought), 2012.

Selected Recent Articles and Chapters:

“Jewish Politics: History and Historiographical Implications,” in The Routledge Companion to Jewish History and Historiography. Edited by Dean Phillip Bell. London; New York: Routledge, 2019, 534–49.

“The Quality of Being French v. the Quality of Being Jewish: Defining the Israelite in French Courts in Algeria and the Metropole,” in Law and History Review vol. 36, no. 4 (2018): 811–46.

“Jewish-Soviet-Ukrainian Relations during the Civil War and the Second Thoughts of a Minister for Jewish Affairs,” in Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism (special issue on nationality questions and the creation of the Soviet Union) vol. 17, no. 3 (2017), 339–57.

“Is ‘Jewish’ a Nationality or Religion? Inside Israel’s Fierce, Bitter Debate About Identity,” in Haaretz, December 31, 2020.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-is-jewish-a-nationality-or-religion-israel-s-fierce-bitter-debate-about-identity-1.9408781

“What is Wrong with Tolerance,” in Aeon, June 20, 2018. https://aeon.co/essays/reciprocity-not-tolerance-is-the-basis-of-healthy-societies

Digital Projects:

Digital History of the Jews in Boston. A collaborative project with students showcasing digital humanities research on Boston Jewish history.
https://dhjewsofboston.northeastern.edu/