She holds a Ph.D. in biblical studies from Bar-Ilan University and her main fields of interest are the poetics of biblical narrative, prophetic stories, feminist interpretation to the Bible, animal ethics, and mourning in the Bible. Shemesh is the author of Mourning in the Bible: Coping with Loss in Biblical Literature (Hebrew), and among her articles are, “The Stories of Women in a Man’s World: The Books of Ruth, Esther, and Judith” (in Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Retrospect) and “‘And Many Beasts’ (Jonah 4:11): The Function and Status of Animals in the Book of Jonah” (JHS 10).