Peter J. Haas (rabbi)
Peter J. Haas is an American Reform Judaism rabbi who works as the Abba Hillel Silver Professor of Jewish Studies at Case Western Reserve University.
Haas earned a bachelor's degree in Ancient Near Eastern History from the University of Michigan in 1970. After studying for a M.A.H.L. at Hebrew Union College, he was ordained in 1974. He completed a Ph.D. in Religious Studies and History of Religions from Brown University in 1980. He taught at Vanderbilt University from 1980 to 2000, when he moved to Case as Abba Hillel Silver Professor.
Haas is the author of five books, among which Morality after Auschwitz: The Radical Challenge of the Nazi Ethic was listed as an outstanding book by Choice and nominated for the Grawemeyer Award in Religion. Another book by Haas, Responsa: Literary History of a Rabbinic Genre, was the subject of a scathing review by Haim Soloveitchik who said "I have read good books and I have read bad books, and now I have read a book by Peter J. Haas."
Haas was the president of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East in 2010–2011.
