Ari Bergmann received a BA in Talmudic Law from Ner Israel Rabbinical College (1981) and an MA in Jewish Studies from Columbia University (2006), and is presently pursuing his PhD in Judaism at Columbia.  His areas of interest include classical rabbinic literature and history, with a focus in the development and the formation of the Talmud.  Specifically his current research interests include contrasting the theories of Y.I. Halevy in Dorot Harishonim with the current ideas of contemporary scholars.