Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Ágnes Vető · 124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie, New York 12604 · (845) 418-7190 · agveto@vassar.edu
Education
Halakhah in Action Fellowship
Yeshivat Maharat, New York
2021–23
Rabbinical Ordination
Yeshivat Maharat, New York
2020
Kollel Program · Female Orthodox Clergy Training
Yeshivat Maharat, New York
2017–20
Ph.D., Hebrew & Judaic Studies
Skirball Department of Hebrew & Judaic Studies, New York University
Dissertation: Rabbinic Conceptualization of the Male Body as Reflected in the Halakhic System of Male Genital Emissions. Defended 2015. MacCracken Fellowship.
2003–15
M.A., Jewish Studies
Rothberg International School, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
University Merit Fellowship.
2001–03
Text-Preparation Year
PaRDeS Institute, Jerusalem
Rimon Fellowship.
2000–01
History Preparation Year
École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris · Hebrew & Jewish Studies
1994–95
M.A., Religious Studies (Hebrew & Jewish Studies)
School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London · granted 1994
1993–94
Research Fellowship
Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies
Rich Foundation Fellowship.
1992–93
Years III–IV, Master’s Curriculum in Hebrew & Jewish Studies
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
1990–92
Year II, Master’s Curriculum in Hebrew & Jewish Studies
Paris IV (Sorbonne) & Institut Catholique de Paris
1989–90
Year I, Master’s Curriculum in Hebrew & Jewish Studies
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
1988–89
Note on the B.A. equivalency. In Hungary in the 1980s the B.A. was regarded as a terminal and inferior degree, given by an undergraduate college as opposed to a university. Any serious student accepted by a university was required to complete a five-year M.A. program, the first three years of which were the equivalent of an American B.A. Ágnes Vető began her M.A. at Eötvös Loránd University, continued it during a supplementary year abroad at the Sorbonne and Institut Catholique, returned to Eötvös Loránd to finish her course requirements, spent her research year at the Oxford Postgraduate Centre, and completed the degree at SOAS, University of London.
Languages
Hebrew, English, French, Hungarian, Aramaic (reading), German (reading), Russian (reading). Studied: Modern Standard Arabic, Classical Greek, Latin.
Employment
Visiting Assistant Professor
Vassar College · Religion Department & Jewish Studies Program
2021–25
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Vassar College · Religion Department & Jewish Studies Program
2015–20
Adjunct Instructor
SUNY New Paltz · History Department
2017
Visiting Instructor
Vassar College · Religion Department & Jewish Studies Program
2007–10, 2014
Adjunct Instructor
Seton Hall University · Religion Department
2013
Lecturer
JCC Manhattan, New York
2012–13
Hebrew Tutor
Private practice, Poughkeepsie, New York
2006; 2011–12
Teaching Assistant
New York University · Skirball Department of Hebrew & Judaic Studies
2005–08; 2010
Language Teacher · Hungarian, Hebrew, English
Private Lessons, Jerusalem
2000–03
Jewish Studies Translator & Editor · Hebrew, French, English, Hungarian
Múlt és Jövő Jewish Publishing House, Budapest
1997–2000
Press Officer
Embassy of Israel, Budapest
Summer & Fall 1997
Language Teacher & Translator · English, French, Hebrew, Hungarian
Oktogon Language School, Budapest
1995–97
History Teacher · ELTE Entry Exam Preparation Program
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
1995–96
Courses Taught
Vassar College · Visiting Assistant Professor, 2021–25
- RELI-249 Unlocking the Bible Sp 2023, Sp 2024, Sp 2025
- RELI-149 Unlocking the Bible (FWS) Sp 2022
- JWST-242 From Anti-Judaism to Anti-Semitism Sp 2022, Sp 2023, Sp 2024, Sp 2025
- JWST-241 The Land of Israel Before the State of Israel Fa 2021, Fa 2022, Fa 2024
- RELI-230 Jewish Law in Action: Women Fa 2023
- HEBR-105 Elementary Hebrew I Fa 2021, Fa 2022, Fa 2023, Fa 2024
- HEBR-106 Elementary Hebrew II Sp 2022, Sp 2023, Sp 2024, Sp 2025
- HEBR-298 Talmudic Hebrew & Aramaic Fa 2021
- HEBR-298 / 399 Independent & Senior Work continuing
Vassar College · Adjunct Assistant Professor, 2015–20
- REL-280b / 283b / JWST-201 Queering Judaism Sp 2015, Sp 2016, Fa 2016
- REL-186 Queering Religion Fa 2016
- REL-284 Revolution, Heresy, & Messianism Sp 2017
- JWST-285 Judaisms Fa 2017
- REL-180 Interrogating Religious Extremism Sp 2018, Fa 2018, Sp 2020
- REL-289 The Hebrew Bible Sp 2019
- JWST-281 / 242 From Anti-Judaism to Anti-Semitism Sp 2019, Sp 2020, Sp 2021
- JWST-282 The Land of Israel Before the State of Israel Fa 2019, Fa 2020
- REL-280a Re-presenting the Holocaust Fa 2015
- RELI-180 Unlocking the Bible (FWS) Sp 2021
- RELI / JWST-399 Senior Independent Work Fa 2020, Sp 2021
Vassar College · Visiting Instructor, 2007–14
- JWST-110 Berlin, Prague, & Budapest Sp 2007, Sp 2008
- JWST-240a The World of the Rabbis Fa 2007, Fa 2008
- JWST-340 Women in the Classical Jewish Tradition Sp 2008
- JWST-201b Sources & Subversions Sp 2009
- REL-225b The Hebrew Bible Sp 2009
- REL-227 Early Christianity Sp 2010
- JWST-201 Women in Judaism Sp 2010
- REL-280b Queering Judaism Sp 2014
SUNY New Paltz · Adjunct Instructor, 2017
- HIS-200-002 / 003 The Ancient World Fa 2017
Seton Hall University · Adjunct Instructor, 2013
- Rabbinic Thought Fa 2013
New York University · Teaching Assistant, 2005–10
- V55.0514 World Cultures: Ancient Israel Fa 2005 · Prof. Daniel Fleming
- V55.0514 World Cultures: Ancient Israel Fa 2006 · Prof. Mark Smith
- V78.0685 The Holocaust Sp 2006, Sp 2008 · Prof. David Engel
- V78.0141 Land of Israel Sp 2007 · Prof. Rakefet Zalashik
- V78.0131 Dead Sea Scrolls Fa 2007 · Prof. Lawrence H. Schiffman
- V55.0400 Texts & Ideas: The Deliberating Citizen Fa 2010 · Prof. Joy Connolly
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest · Adjunct Instructor, 1999
- History of Modern Europe History Preparatory Program, 1999
Academic Advising
Thesis Advisor · Emily Kaplan
Jewish Studies, Vassar College
2024–25
External Reader · Ph.D. Thesis of Péter Radvánszki
“Science and Tradition: Rashi’s Commentary to the Song of Songs in the Light of Revelation.” The Budapest University of Jewish Studies, Hungary
Summer–Fall 2021
Senior Thesis Supervisor · Zane Diamand
“Obligation: A Jewish Jurisprudence of the Social Order.” Jewish Studies, Vassar College
Spring 2020
Publications
Articles
“Reactivating Mi’un to Free Agunot Within the Framework of Halakhah.”
Keren Journal · in press · 2024
Genesis 42–45 · scholarly commentary to the Hebrew Bible
The Budapest University of Jewish Studies (OR-ZSE) · in press · 2022
“Naked Ladies in the Haggadah.”
In Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink: Jewish Illuminated Manuscripts, ed. Marc Michael Epstein. Princeton University Press · 2015
“A Misna és a Jakab Ősevangélium között: Hogyan változott a ’keserű víz’ szertartás jelentése a korai kereszténység ill. misnai Judaizmus értelmezésében?”
Studia Biblica Athanasiana, l’Harmattan · 2012
“Iconic Texts of the Conservative Movement.”
Milestone Documents at World Religions, H-Judaic · 2010
Work in Progress
Silent Revolutions: Halakhic Shifts and the Empowerment of Jewish Women
Book in progress
Academic Conferences
“Halakhic Solutions to the Plight of Chained Women”
Pardes Beth Midrash Program, Budapest, Hungary
2024
Response paper to Karen Stern and Shai Secunda
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
2019
“Hungary and Its Immigrants”
Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy
2019
“Metaphors and Masculinity: A Rabbinic View”
Oxford Summer Institute on Modern & Contemporary Judaism, Oxford, UK
2018
“A Matter of Importance: Impure Bodies and Objects in Rabbinic Law”
48th Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies, San Diego, CA
2016
“The Development of the Haggadah in Rabbinic Literature”
New Venice Haggadah Project, Venice, Italy
2015
“Visuality as a New Legal Criterion”
46th Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies, Baltimore, MD
2014
“Tractate Zavim and the Male Body”
Graduate Student Lecture, University of Toronto
2014
“Rabbinic Conceptualization of the Male Body”
Regional Seminar in Ancient Judaism, Yale University
2014
“Metaphor and Maleness in the Stam”
45th Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies, Boston, MA
2013
“Fluid Masculinity: Metaphors and the Rabbinic Conceptualization of Maleness”
Regional Seminar in Ancient Judaism, Princeton University
2013
“The Gospel of James and Sota: An Early Christian Transformation of the Mishnaic Ritual of the Drinking of the Bitter Waters”
Rewritten Bible, Caspar Károli Reformed University, Budapest
2011
“Written on the Body: Salome, Sota, & Gynecology as Truth-Testing”
The Jewish Woman and Her Body, Youngstown State University, Ohio
2010
Public Lectures for General Audiences
“Is It Kosher?”
Poughkeepsie Public Library, Poughkeepsie, NY
2025
“A History of Anti-Semitism”
Brotherhood Synagogue, New York, NY
2021
“A Conversion Story”
Park Avenue Synagogue, New York, NY
2020
“Rosh Hashanah Traditions”
JCC Bálint Ház, Budapest, Hungary
2020
“Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls”
Hevesi Jewish Heritage Library, New York, NY
2013
“Hungarian Jewish Community: Between the 19th Century and 1945”
Hevesi Jewish Heritage Library, New York, NY
2013
Scholar-in-Residence Series · Dead Sea Scrolls, the Land of Israel, Half a Shekel & the Tabernacle, Jewish Power
Jewish Federation of Dutchess County, Poughkeepsie, NY
2011–12
Discussant: Leap of Faith — Panel on Conversion to Judaism
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
2010
“Women in the Talmud”
Temple Beth-El, Poughkeepsie, NY
2010
Limmud International Conference · Four lectures, including “Cultural Mobility Between Pre-Rabbinic Jews and Early Christians” & “Beruriah, the Woman Scholar”
Warwick, England
2008; 2010
“The Birth of the Rabbinic Class” & “Conversion in the Antique World”
Woodstock Havurah, Woodstock, NY
2007–08