{{Short description|American scholar, born 1978}} '''Aaron J. Koller''' (born 1978 in Baltimore) is an American scholar of Hebrew and Semitic languages. He was a student of Professor Richard C. Steiner at Yeshiva University's Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, and later co-edited a volume in honor of Steiner.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Koller |first=Aaron |url=https://www.bialik-publishing.bialik-publishing.co.il/index.php?dir=site&page=catalog&op=item&cs=5194&language=eng |title=Semitic, Biblical and Jewish Studies in Honor of Richard C. Steiner (co-edited with Mordechai Z. Cohen and Adina Moshavi) |publisher=Bialik |year=2020 |isbn=978-965-536-277-0 |location=Jerusalem and New York |publication-date=2020}}</ref> He also studied Near Eastern Studies at the University of Pennsylvania under Jeffrey H. Tigay and Barry L. Eichler; Arabic at Columbia University; and Egyptian hieroglyphs at the Brooklyn Museum. Lawrence Stager was on his dissertation committee.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Koller |date=2009 |title=The ancient Hebrew semantic field of cutting tools: A philological, archaeological, and semantic study |url=https://repository.yu.edu/items/2bf6edb1-9427-41f9-b268-b4c220b45b92 |access-date=2025-08-19 |website=repository.yu.edu}}</ref> Koller began teaching at Yeshiva University in 2008, rising to become Professor of Near Eastern Studies.<ref name="bio Yeshiva">{{cite web |title=Aaron-Koller |url=https://www.yu.edu/faculty/pages/koller-aaron |website=Yeshiva University |access-date=25 July 2025 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="CV">{{cite web |title=Aaron Koller - Curriculum Vitae |url=https://yeshiva.academia.edu/Koller/CurriculumVitae |website=yeshiva.academia.edu |access-date=25 July 2025 |date=2025}}</ref> In April 2025, he was announced as the next Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Cambridge, England.<ref name="joins AMES">{{cite web |last1=Escoffery |first1=Naidine |title=Aaron Koller joins AMES |url=https://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/news/aaron-koller-joins-ames |website=Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies |publisher=University of Cambridge |access-date=25 July 2025 |language=en |date=16 April 2025}}</ref> He is the first Jewish person to hold the chair that was established by King Henry VIII.<ref name="jpost barrier">{{cite news |title=Aaron Koller breaks barrier as first Jew in historic Cambridge role |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-853739 |access-date=25 July 2025 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=13 May 2025 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="G first">{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Richard |title=Cambridge University appoints first Jewish professor of Hebrew |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/jun/02/cambridge-university-appoints-first-jewish-professor-of-hebrew |access-date=25 July 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=2 June 2025}}</ref>
While at Yeshiva University, Koller argued that traditional Jewish law needed to be flexible enough to accommodate the full acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-09-10 |title=On Halakha and LGBT |url=https://yuobserver.org/2019/09/on-halakha-and-lgbt/ |access-date=2025-08-19 |website=The YU Observer}}</ref> His position was condemned by many senior rabbis in the institution<ref>{{Cite web |author=Avrohom Gordimer |date=12 September 2019 |title=On Halacha and LGBT – Responding to Dr. Aaron Koller |url=https://cross-currents.com/2019/09/12/on-halacha-and-lgbt-responding-to-dr-aaron-koller/}}</ref> but found support among many students.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Anonymous YC Student |date=15 September 2019 |title=Engaging in Serious Debate: A Response to the Reduction of Professor Koller's Position |url=https://yuobserver.org/2019/09/engaging-in-serious-debate-a-response-to-the-reduction-of-professor-kollers-position/}}</ref> Yeshiva has adopted a policy of barring LGBTQ+ students from forming a student club.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Liam Stack |date=12 May 2025 |title=Yeshiva University Reverses Itself and Bans L.G.B.T.Q. Club |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/nyregion/yeshiva-university-lgbtq-club-ban.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=Louis Keene |date=17 June 2025 |title=A groundbreaking agreement for LGBTQ+ Orthodox Jews collapsed after 50 days. What happened? |url=https://forward.com/news/729163/why-yeshiva-university-lgbtq-club-collapsed/}}</ref>
==Selected works==
* {{cite book |last1=Koller |first1=Aaron J. |title=The semantic field of cutting tools in biblical Hebrew: the interface of philological, semantic, and archaeological evidence |date=2012 |publisher=Catholic Biblical Association of America |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-0915170487 |series= Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series |volume= 49 }} * {{cite book |last1=Koller |first1=Aaron J. |title=Esther in ancient Jewish thought |date=2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1107048355}} * {{cite book |last1=Koller |first1=Aaron J. |title=Unbinding Isaac: the significance of the Akedah for modern Jewish thought |date=2020 |publisher=The Jewish Publication Society |location=Philadelphia |isbn=978-0827614734}}
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Koller, Aaron}} Category:Living people Category:1978 births Category:Yeshiva University alumni Category:Yeshiva University faculty Category:American Hebraists Category:Fellows of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Category:Regius Professors of Hebrew (Cambridge) Category:Jewish American academics Category:21st-century American Jews Category:21st-century American academics