Then and Now
Most scholars today believe that there is no concept of "homosexuality," as we usually understand the term, in the Bible. That is, both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, although clearly familiar with homoerotic sexual acts, do not know of the … [Continue reading] about Paul, Homosexuality, and Midrash
Seventeen years ago, with the birth of the internet, we entered what historians are calling the “fourth information age.” Yet, as Cathy Davidson notes, we in the academy are still very much part of the “third information age,” which began in the … [Continue reading] about Digital Humanities Now
Several years ago I wrote an article, “‘And on the Earth You Shall Sleep’”: Talmud Torah and Rabbinic Asceticism” (Journal of Religion 83 [2003]: 204-225). In that article, I compared rabbinic “asceticism” (which I broadly define as a set of … [Continue reading] about The Self and Science
Praised be You, YHVH, our god, king of the universe, who has not made me a gentile; Praised be You, YHVH, our god, king of the universe, who has not made me a slave; Praised be You, YHVH, our god, king of the universe, who has not made me a … [Continue reading] about Between Us and Them
In an essay recently posted on the NPR site , Patrick Jarenwattananon asks, “Does a Jazz Critic Have to Be a Musician, Too?” His answer: “Playing music isn't a prerequisite for that understanding, but it can only help. Duh, right?” I have recently … [Continue reading] about Religion, Jazz, and their Critics