Ezra Blaustein grew up in Silver Spring, MD. He received his BA and MA from Yeshiva University and then continued his studies in the Ph.D. program in History of Judaism at the University of Chicago. He studies medieval Jewish history, with an emphasis on the culture and literature of Jewish communities in Islamic lands. His dissertation (still in progress) focuses on The Book of Commandments, a legal work written by Maimonides in Judeo-Arabic.