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Samuel Levine Asks, "Was Yosef on the Spectrum?"


Samuel Levine is a Professor of Law and Director of the Jewish Law Institute at Touro Law Center, which is part of the Touro College and University System. His work Was Yosef on the Spectrum? Understanding Joseph Through Torah, Midrash, and Classical Jewish Sources offers a unique examination of the life of Joseph (Yosef).

Yosef's behaviors, interpersonal relationships, and personal development are often difficult to understand, and at times seem to defy explanation. This book offers a coherent and cohesive reading of the well-known Bible story, presenting a portrait of Yosef as an individual on the autism spectrum. Viewed through this lens, Yosef emerges as a more familiar and less enigmatic individual, exhibiting both strengths and weaknesses commonly associated with autism spectrum disorder.

Professor Levine:

Prof. Levine has served as the Beznos Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University College of Law, and he has taught at the law schools of Bar-Ilan, Fordham, Pepperdine, and St. John's Universities. He has published two books and more than 60 law review articles and book chapters, and he has lectured throughout the United States on the subjects of Legal Ethics, Jewish Law, Criminal Law, Law and Religion, Constitutional Law, and Disability Rights. 

Professor Levine has been described in the pages of the Notre Dame Law Review as “one of the leading legal-ethics and professional-responsibility scholars of his generation,” and in 2016, he received the Sanford D. Levy Award from the New York State Bar Association's Committee on Professional Ethics, in recognition of his contributions to the field of legal ethics.  He has been described by the Detroit Legal News as “one of the world’s foremost experts on the interplay of Jewish and American law.” In 2021, he received the Touro College Presidential Faculty Excellence in Scholarship Award.


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