Ze'ev Safrai is an Israeli Professor in the Department for Israel Studies in Bar Ilan University, as well as an author, lecturer and researcher of Israel in the Second Temple era. His main project is his authorship of the socio-historical commentary to the Mishnah called Mishnat Eretz Yisrael, which he began together with his late father Professor Shmuel Safrai and his late sister Professor Chana Safrai. Since the Mishnah is a code of law, its textual style is very concise and lacking in socio-historical background. While some scholarly attempts have been made to understand the meaning of the Mishnah and some attempts have been made to sketch the biographies of the authorities the Mishnah mentions Mishnat Eretz Yisrael is the only complete commentary to the Mishnah that uses socio-historical evidence of the time to provide context for the Mishnah's laws. Of the expected 45 volumes, 22 have been completed.
Biography
Born in Jerusalem in 1948, he studied in Yeshivat Netiv Meir, volunteered for the Bnei Akiva religious youth movement, served in the Israel Defense Forces, and then became a founding member of Kibbutz Ma'ale Gilboa. He received his doctorate from the Hebrew University on the subject of "Historical Geography of the land of Samaria" under the guidance of Professor Menachem Stern and Professor Zakariah Klai. He married Dina from Kibbutz Yavneh in 1974 and settled there. She manages sales of the Mishnat Eretz Yisrael commentary.
Positions
At Bar Ilan University, he has been head of the Department for Israel Studies and Deputy Rector of the University. He was on the secretariats of the Trustees of Torah and Avodah, the Mafdal and on the permits committee of the Israel Archaeology Council. He served as head of the committee for the training of Tour Guides in the Israel Tourism Office. Currently he is a member of Israel Place Naming Committee, a member on the managerial committee of Ashkelon College, the Achvah Academic College, Givat Washington College and Yaakov Herzog Centre.
Research
Safrai describes himself as a 'servant' of the Mishnaic and Talmudic period. He works on all perspectives of the period, especially those areas where a combination of source types and methodological approaches are required, for instance the combination of the Sages' source and archaeological finds, or the Sages' sources and a socio-historical approach.
Awards
1995 - Yad Ben-Zvi Peace prize for his book The Economy of Roman Palestine
2000 - Israel Education Minister's award for new Torah works for his project Mishnat Eretz Yisrael.
The Literature of the Sages The Jewish People in the First Century, Compendia Rerum Judaicarum II, – S. Safrai, Z. Safrai, J. Schwartz, P.J. Thomson, Amsterdam 2006.
The Jewish People in the First Century Compendia Rerum Judaicarum II, Amsterdam 2006.
Hebrew books edited
בית הכנסת בארץ ישראל בתקופת המשנה והתלמוד, ירושלים תשמ"ו.
מחקרי שומרון, ז' ספראי וש' דר עורכים, תל אביב תשמ"ו.
חקרי ארץ, עיונים בתולדות ארץ-ישראל מוגשים לכבוד פרופ' יהודה פליקס, ז', ספראי, א' פרידמן וי' שוורץ, עורכים, רמת-גן תשנ"ז
הכפר הקדום בארץ-ישראל, תל אביב תשנ"ז, ז' ספראי וש' דר, עורכים.
בין סמכות לאוטונומיה, ז' ספראי וא' שגיא, עורכים, תל אביב תשנ"ח.
אשקלון עיר לחוף ימים, א' ששון, ז' ספראי, ונ' שגיב, עורכים, אשקלון תשס"א,
In addition he has published many articles in various journals in Hebrew, English, German and French.
Safrai's letters
קתדרה, זאב ספראי, בתי הכנסת של השומרונים בתקופה הרומית-ביזנטית, 4.12, 4, יולי 1977
קתדרה,זאב ספראי,ה'אונומסטיקון' לאוסביוס והיישוב בדרום הר חברון, 72.11, 72, תמוז תשנ"ד, יוני 1994
