Dr. Ilana Sasson received her MSc from the Department of Genetics of the Hebrew University at Hadassah Ein Karem. She wrote a Master’s thesis that dealt with a mutation that causes a G6PD deficiency and its ramifications for certain Jewish populations of Iraqi descent. She received her MPhil as part of her doctoral studies, from the Department of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York (2007), and her PhD from the same institution and department (2010). The title of her doctoral thesis is: “Methods and Approach in Yefet ben Eli’s Translation and Commentary on the Book of Proverbs.” She has been a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Biblical Studies, Tel-Aviv University, under the guidance of Prof. Meira Polliack.

Her major academic interests are medieval translations and commentaries on the Bible, Karaism, Medieval Judeo-Arabic literature, Yefet ben Eli, and the Cairo Genizah. Her DIP projects include the preparation of a scientific edition of Yefet ben Eli’s translation and commentary on the Book of Proverbs; publication of studies in Yefet’s commentaries, and, in the next stage, the translation of his work on Proverbs into English.

Selected publications relevant to the project
Books

— The Arabic Translation and Commentary of Yefet Ben Eli on the Book of Proverbs, Volume 1: Edition and Introduction (Leiden: Brill, 2016).

Articles

— “The Mudawwin Revisited: Yefet ben Eli on the Composition of the Book of Proverbs,” JJS lxvii no. 2 (fall 2016): 327-339.
— “Ibn Balaam, Judah (Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā) ben Samuel”, “Ibn Quraysh, Judah”, “Ibn al-Tabbān, Levi (Abū ‘l-Fahm) ben Jacob”. in Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception, Edited by Dale C. Allison Jr. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016.
— “The Judaeo-Arabic Translations of the Book of Psalms”, “The Judaeo-Arabic Translations of the Book of Job”, “The Judaeo-Arabic Translations of the Book of Proverbs”, “The Judaeo-Arabic Translations of the Five Scrolls.” in Textual History of the Bible, Vol. 1, Edited by Armin Lange and Emanuel Tov. Leiden: Brill, 2016.
— “‘The Matter Applies Not Only to Man’: Gender Equality in Yefet ben Eli’s Biblical Commentary and in the Karaite Legal System” [in Hebrew],  Ben Ever La-Arav 6 (2014): 71-96.
— ‘The Book of the Law in the House of the Lord is a Copy (‘nuskha’) Written by Moses: Yefet ben Eli’s Commentary on 2 Kings 22:1-23:3’, Ginzei Qedem 10 (2014): 157-190.
— ‘Masorah and Grammar as Revealed in Tenth Century Karaite Exegesis’, JSIJ 12 (2013): 1-36.
— “The Book of Proverbs between Saadia and Yefet,” in IHIW 1(2013): 159-178.
— ‘Gender Equality in Yefet ben Eli’s Commentary and Karaite Halakhah’, AJS Review 37,1 (2013): 51-74.