Scienceזאב ספראי

Ze'ev Safrai

Ze'ev Safrai is an Israeli historian and professor at Bar-Ilan University, known for the Mishnah commentary Mishnat Eretz Yisrael.

born 1948The Mishnat Eretz Yisrael commentaryHistorical geography of ancient IsraelResearch on the ancient economy

Born: 27 July 1948, Jerusalem
Occupation: historian, archaeologist, Judaic scholar
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Ze'ev Safrai was born in 1948 in Jerusalem

Ze'ev Safrai was born in Jerusalem on July 27, 1948. His father was the historian Shmuel Safrai and his sister was the Talmud scholar Chana Safrai. He studied at Yeshivat Netiv Meir and was a youth counselor in Bnei Akiva.

He served in the IDF and was among the founders of Kibbutz Ma'ale Gilboa. He earned his doctorate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on the historical geography of Samaria, under Menachem Stern and Zakariah Klai. In 1974 he married Dina and moved to Kvutzat Yavne.

From 1977 he held posts at Bar-Ilan University, including head of the Department for Israel Studies and deputy rector. He chaired the committee for training tour guides at the Tourism Ministry and sits on the government naming committee. His research joins rabbinic texts with archaeology and social history, including work on the ancient economy.

His main project is Mishnat Eretz Yisrael, a social and historical commentary on the Mishnah begun with his father and sister. It began appearing in 2008. By early 2022 all tractates had appeared in 66 volumes, 28 in print and 38 online.