Rabbi Asher Finkel, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus, Jewish-Christian Studies Graduate Program
Department of Religion

Rabbi Asher Finkel has been a full Professor at Seton Hall University since 1975 when, in response to the Second Vatican Council, he helped found the Graduate Program in Jewish-Christian Studies and assisted in developing the program's unique curriculum, which serves as a model for eliminating prejudice through understanding.

In addition to teaching courses in the graduate program, he also hosted the Lehrhaus, a weekly Masoretic reflection on the Torah portion for the preceding Sabbath. For 15 years, Rabbi Finkel has given countless students and members of the general public a deeper appreciation for rabbinic Judaism through his Lehrhaus presentations.

A disciple of Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik, Rabbi Finkel received his rabbinical ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University and earned his Ph.D. from Tübingen University (Germany). Before joining Seton Hall, he was an Assistant Professor at Tübingen University (1962-1966) and an Associate Professor at New York University (1966-1973).

Rabbi Finkel is an expert in the Torah, Rabbinic Judaism, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Gospels and early Christianity.