Sam Shuman is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and a member of the Jewish Studies faculty. Their research situates Hasidic Judaism within a global context and, in so doing, allows us to rethink larger questions in political theology about race and religion, global capitalism, gender and sexuality, sovereignty and empire. To do this, they toggle between different methodologies: ethnography, archival research, and text analysis.

Shuman focuses on contemporary Hasidic Jews and the various forms of mediation that Hasidic brokers perform in everyday life. Their current project, Of Mice and Hasidic Men, concerns the various forms of saintly mediation performed by a dead Hungarian Hasidic miracle-worker named Reb Shayele (1851-1925). Though long considered to protect against the infestation of mice in Hasidic homes and businesses, Shayele has assumed significance among Hasidic men in the last decade. Shayele has been resurrected as a patron saint of hospitality and protection against “intruders.” By praying at Shayele’s gravesite and using his amulets and incantations, contemporary Hasidic men seek to ward off unwelcome encounters with agents of the state, such as police, traffic enforcement agents, and building inspectors. They have conducted ethnographic research among 50,000 pilgrims at Shayele’s gravesite in Hungary, explored hagiographic materials and newspapers in Hebrew, Yiddish, and Hungarian, and reviewed extensive social media content.