HELLO, I'M
Yeshua G. B. Tolle
Senior Manager of Jewish Education at Cleveland Hillel. PhD. Literary Critic and Hebrew Enthusiast. 2024–25 Krauthammer Fellow.
A Little About Me
I direct a Jewish education program, teach classes, research and publish on literature and Jewish culture, and blog here
About
MY BACKGROUND
I'm the senior manager of Jewish education at the Cleveland Hillel Foundation and a 2024–25 Krauthammer Fellow with the Tikvah Fund. I am an Ohio native and I attended Ohio State as an undergraduate. I earned my PhD in English Language and Literature, with a certificate in Judaic Studies, from the University of Michigan. I have taught at the college level as a professor, instructor, and general educator. I have a passion for education and research. When I'm not teaching, planning curricula, or out on campuses connecting with students, I'm probably researching and writing on literature, culture, campus antisemitism, and the Jewish past, present, and future.
Browse my site to learn more about my work and experience.
Education
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2015-2021
PhD in English Language and Literature with Certificates in Judaic Studies and Diversity and Inclusive Teaching, University of Michigan
Dissertation: Becoming Academic: US Identity Poetics, 1968–2008
2017
Naomi Prawer Kadar International Yiddish Summer Program, University of Tel Aviv
2010-2014
Bachelor of Arts in English and Religious Studies, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (summa cum laude)
Professional Appointments
2024-Present
Senior Manager of Jewish Education, Cleveland Hillel Foundation
2022-24
Director of Jewish Education, Ohio State University Hillel
2021–22
Assistant Professor and Postdoctoral Fellow, English, DePauw University
2015–21
Instructor and Teaching Assistant, University of Michigan
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
"From Jewish Effeminacy to Muslim Masculinity: Muhammad Asad's Road to Mecca." Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 40, no. 1 (Spring 2024): 147–51.
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“Under the Sign of Middle Passage: Black Solidarity Reimagined.” Texas Studies in Literature and Language 65, no. 2 (Summer 2023): 115–39.
“Friendship in the Time of COINTELPRO: Clarence Major and Dingane Joe Goncalves.” MELUS 47, no. 3 (Fall 2022): 153–70.
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Essays and Reviews
"Hebrew Against the Odds: Beyond the Politics of Translation." Tel Aviv Review of Books (forthcoming).
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"Kamp Vught: David Koker’s Netherlands." Jewish Review of Books, May 6, 2024.
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"Welcome to the New Campus Normal: A Dispatch from Ohio State." Jewish Review of Books, November 2, 2023.
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“Those Days Are Gone Forever.” Review of The Jews of Summer: Summer Camp and Jewish Culture in Postwar America by Sandra Fox. Jewish Review of Books 54 (Summer 2023)
“Hebrew Literature and the Fate of American Hebraism.” Marginalia Review of Books, December 9, 2022
“World Literature at the End of the World: The Case of Aaron Zeitlin.” Asymptote (Winter 2022)
“FREE BLACK TERRITORY: On Dingane Joe Goncalves.” In “Extreme Texts,” edited by Divya Victor. Special feature, Jacket2, June 20, 2019
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Translations
“Manual Labor” by Abraham Regelson. Exchanges: Journal of Literary Translation (Spring 2023)
Research Areas
I'm available to give talks on any of these topics
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Campus Antisemitism
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Modern American Literature
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Jewish Leadership
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Contemporary Poetry
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Black Studies
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Varieties of Judaism​
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Religion and Literature
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The Art of Translation
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Hebrew in America
Languages
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English (native fluency)
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Hebrew (reading, some speaking)
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French (reading, some speaking)
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Yiddish (reading)