Carol Harris-Shapiro is a professor at Temple University in the Intellectual Heritage Department and a rabbi ordained in the Reconstructionist movement. She is known for writing a controversial book on Messianic Judaism, a belief system considered by most Christians and Jews to be a form of Christianity, adhered to by groups that seek to combine Christianity and Judaism.
Early life and education
Harris-Shapiro grew up in Northeast Philadelphia, and graduated from Michigan State University in 1982. She received her rabbinical ordination at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1988, and religiously affiliates with Reconstructionist Judaism. She received a Ph.D. in religion from Temple University in 1992.
Career
Harris-Shapiro has taught at Temple University since 2007. Previously she worked at Villanova University, La Salle University, Philadelphia University, Rosemont College, and Gratz College.
Along with her expertise on Messianic Judaism, Harris-Shapiro is also a scholar on the history of Jewish foods.
Views
She looks at religion from a sociological standpoint, and sees that although Jewish community as a whole accepts Secular Humanistic Jews and Jewish Buddhists as still being "in the fold," Messianic Jews are considered to be heretics. It was this puzzle in the behavior of the Jewish community—accepting atheist and Buddhist Jews, while rejecting Jews practicing Christianity—that led her to explore the Messianic Jewish community in a focused ethnographic study and to think through the issue of legitimacy surrounding Messianic Judaism.
Following the 2015 decision by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College to ordain rabbis in interfaith marriages, Harris-Shapiro resigned from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (RRA) in protest. She described the decision as the "straw that broke the camel’s back" and that "I immediately resigned."
Book controversy
Her book Messianic Judaism: A Rabbi's Journey through Religious Change in America was the focus of a controversy when it was published in 1999. Harris-Shapiro concluded that given the Jewish community's tacit acceptance of other seemingly "heretical" Jews as part of the ethnic Jewish community, it would be difficult to find a consistently logical reason to reject Messianic Judaism, although she was quite clear that communities can draw boundaries as they see fit. Theologically, she affirmed that Messianic Jews are adherents of Evangelical Christianity.
This was reiterated in an interview with World: The Journal of the Unitarian Universalist Association,
Other reviews of the book were more positive. Moment Magazine said that Harris-Shapiro's work was "evenhanded" and "an important book for all those concerned about Judaism's future." Library Journal recommended the book and called it "an unbiased academic study of a community's theology." Booklist said that Harris-Shapiro used "an effective blend of scholarship, interviews, and personal insights" and called the book "compelling and evenhanded."
Personal life
Harris-Shapiro is married to Jon Harris-Shapiro, and lives in Elkins Park near Philadelphia.