Is the Bible True? Should It Matter?
This was just published at Aeon Ideas. I paste a copy below. Not really. And not really. The truth is that there isn’t much, if any, historical accuracy in the early accounts in the Hebrew Bible/Old...
View ArticleTake That!
I direct an online project called Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine (IIP). The purpose of this project is to make accessible and searchable the many published inscriptions from this region that date...
View ArticleGreat Jewish Books: Second Time Around
Last year I taught an undergraduate class called “Great Jewish Books” and posted the syllabus here. The course, I thought, went very well. Nevertheless, since I am an inveterate tinkerer, I have...
View ArticleThe Ein Gedi Scroll: What We Could Potentially, Maybe Learn
A bit over a month ago the Israel Antiquities Authority announced a stunning achievement: a burnt scroll found in excavations of the ancient synagogue of Ein Gedi in 1970 has been partially deciphered...
View ArticleWealth: Religious Perspectives
I am excited to be co-teaching a new course this semester with my colleague, Professor Susan Harvey. The course description of “Wealth: Religious Perspectives,” is below: This course will survey...
View ArticleInterview: How the Bible Became Holy
I recently gave an interview to “New Books in Jewish Studies.” The interview (about 30 minutes) can be heard here.
View ArticleThe Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religion
For the last several years I have worked as a co-editor on The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religion, “the first comprehensive single-volume reference work offering authoritative...
View ArticleThe Wisdom of Ben Sira: How Jewish?
I have written a short piece on how the book of Ben Sira (also known as Ecclesiasticus, which today is found in the Apocrypha) was pushed to the Jewish margins and on some recent attempts to bring it...
View ArticleThere Was a Temple on the Temple Mount
I have many friends who find the New York Times’s coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be “anti-Israel.” By this, I think that they mean that given a (surprisingly large) number of possible...
View ArticleWorkshop: Jewish Attitudes Toward Wealth and Poverty
I am very happy to announce an upcoming workshop at Brown University that I am coordinating, “Jewish Attitudes Toward Wealth and Poverty,” to take place on November 1-3, 2015. More information can be...
View ArticleThe Diaspora in Berlin
Last month I gave a lecture at the Jewish Museum in Berlin as part of a program on “What Does the Diaspora Mean for Jews and Muslims?” My 30-minuteish lecture (in English) begins at minute 4:27. The...
View ArticleHow the Bible Became Holy: Italian Version
I am tickled to announce that my book, How the Bible Became Holy, has been released in Italian translation. It is titled, E il Signore parlo a Mose: Come la Bibbia divenne sacra. A description is here.
View ArticleGary Anderson Lecture on Jewish Attitudes Toward Wealth and Poverty
In early November I convened a workshop on Jewish Attitudes Toward Wealth and Poverty. We spent most of our time at the workshop discussing translations of Jewish texts and we are in the process of...
View ArticleHow the Bible Became Holy: Course Syllabus
This spring I will once again be teaching my course, “How the Bible Became Holy.” This is an undergraduate survey that spans from the biblical period to around the third century CE. As always, I have...
View ArticleAnd the Other…. Syllabus for course on the Mishnah and Tosefta
The second course I will be teaching this semester is a graduate student oriented course on the Mishnah and Tosefta. You can find a copy of the syllabus here. If you would prefer a copy in Word in...
View ArticleEzra: Role Play Exercise
Each time I teach “How the Bible Became Holy” I spend a day role-playing the response to Ezra’s return to Jerusalem in 458 BCE. We focus on the aftermath of Nehemiah 8 but students have read all of...
View ArticleWho Read the Bible in Antiquity?
A video of the lecture that I gave at Trinity University on “Who Read the Bible in Antiquity” to kick off their Lennox Seminar. Meeting faculty colleagues there and interacting with the students in...
View ArticleOn Jewish Betrothal
I recently wrote an essay for thegemara.com on the origins of Jewish betrothal. The primary but not only context for this essay is to provide a new, historical lens for those who, working through the...
View ArticleToward a New Model for Academic Publishing
I had a letter published in the New York Times the other day – it can be found on the Times website here and a I reproduce it below. While this letter was in response to an article that dealt...
View ArticleSpeaking in Baltimore
I will be giving four talks in Baltimore on April 1-2 on the holiness of the Bible. I am grateful to the Hoffberger Foundation for Torah Study and the consortium of Baltimore area synagogues for the...
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