Yael Landman is pursuing a PhD in Bible at Revel, focusing on the Bible in its ancient Near Eastern (ANE) context. Her interests include biblical and ANE law, Semitic languages and linguistics, and literary approaches to the Bible. Yael is also currently a graduate fellow at the Center for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization at the Cardozo School of Law. Upon completing her doctorate, Yael aspires to pursue a career in academia as a university professor and engage in research and teaching. Yael earned her B.A. summa cum laude in Jewish Studies and English from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a Benjamin Franklin Scholar and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Yael wrote her honors thesis at Penn under the supervision of Prof. Jeffrey Tigay on the function of the gôrāl (lot) in the Bible. Prior to that, she studied at the Stella K. Abraham Beit Midrash for Women at Migdal Oz for a year. She is also a graduate of the Yeshivah of Flatbush. Yael’s interest in studying Bible developed when she joined the Yeshivah of Flatbush’s study group for the Bible Contest (hidon ha-tanakh) and participated in the competition at the national and international levels. At the University of Pennsylvania, Yael’s Jewish Studies courses exposed her to invaluable new tools for Bible study, such as the use of ANE materials and philological methods. Yael also took courses in linguistics and literary theory that demonstrated the value of adopting a multidisciplinary approach when studying texts. “My passion for the field of biblical studies and my interest in further exploring the world in which the Bible emerged,” said Yael, “motivated me to pursue a PhD.” When asked what prompted her decision to enroll at Revel, Yael explained that “I felt I would benefit greatly from the instruction of Revel’s Bible faculty, especially Professors Richard Steiner and Barry Eichler, whose meticulous scholarship impressed me, and whose areas of expertise spanned the range of my interests.” She had taken one course with Professor Eichler while he was still teaching at Penn (he has since become a full-time YU faculty member), and felt there was a lot more she could learn from him.  Yael was also interested in a program where she could study the Bible in its historical and geographical context, as well as through the lens of post-biblical Jewish exegesis. “Revel’s program,” Yael explained, “excels in all of those areas.” Professor Steiner’s courses in Hebrew Semantics and Lexicology and in Hebrew Syntax provide the models of how Yael approaches each word and phrase in the biblical texts she studies. Additionally, she explained, “the course given by Professor Eichler entitled Approaches to Biblical Law gave me the theoretical framework and methodological grounding in a subfield of biblical and ANE studies that fascinates me.” She also feels privileged to have taken one-on-one guided reading courses in Akkadian with Professors Eichler and Holtz, which allowed her to improve rapidly in her reading skills. Yael has benefited greatly from the spirit of camaraderie fostered among her Revel peers as they regularly meet for PhD luncheons and guest lectures. Additionally, she remarks, “I have enjoyed a sense of community with students from other disciplines in Prof. Debra Kaplan’s doctoral seminar in historical methods, and as part of the committee organizing a conference for advanced graduate students, which will take place this coming May.” This article written by Rivka Skaist (Revel MA student, Jewish Philosophy)