Jewish Studies faculty member Sam Shuman (Religious Studies) recently published an article in the Jewish Quarterly Review entitled, "Of Mice and Hasidic Men: Reb Shayele as Populist Patron Saint." The article follows the life and legacy of the 19th-century, Eastern European ultra-Orthodox figure Reb Shayele, a renowned miracle worker who, after his death, became a "patron saint" of hospitality in Haredi Jewish communities, particularly for his ability to expel rats from homes.

In reviewing Shuman's article, UCLAS’s David Myers praised the article's rich "ethnographic and textual nuance" for locating other invocations of Reb Shayele that extend beyond household vermin to the shielding of Haredi individuals from invasive police intervention in their personal and commercial endeavors. For Jews invoking Reb Shayele, Myers notes, hospitality itself is a political act.

Learn more about Professor Sam Shuman.