Michael L. Satlow

Then and Now

academic

Ezra: Role Play Exercise

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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 Ezra and Nehemiah.  This year we had to break the class into three groups, each simultaneously conducting the same role-play.  The results were different in each one.  I live-tweeted the group that I was leading and the Storified version of those tweets (#EzraSim) below should give an idea of what transpired.

 

 

Gary Anderson Lecture on Jewish Attitudes Toward Wealth and Poverty

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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 assembling those (and other) texts to publish together as a kind of source book.

One of the highlights of the workshop was a lecture by Professor Gary A. Anderson (Notre Dame).  Professor Anderson spoke on “Metaphysics or Morals: The Place of Charity in Second Temple Judaism.”  The video of the lecture was just edited and is accessible above.

Workshop: Jewish Attitudes Toward Wealth and Poverty

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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 found on the workshop website.

A description:

Traditional Jewish texts present different approaches to wealth, poverty, and money. The purpose of this conference is both to identify these texts and to explore the diversity of their ideas. Accordingly, the conference will be organized around particular texts dealing with specific issues. Conference time will be spent primarily in study of and conversation about these texts. Our ultimate goal is to produce a volume that includes the texts (in original translations) with short commentaries.

The conference will be organized around the following themes:

  • Ownership: Is there a concept of “private property,” or does all property ultimately belong to God and/or the community? What can acquire the status of “property”?
  • The Moral Value of Wealth and Poverty: Is being wealthy a sign of divine favor? Is poverty ultimately a “better” state in which to live?
  • The Acquisition of Wealth: Are there better or worse ways to acquire wealth? Can one make money off the labor of others? How is the biblical prohibition against charging interest treated, and what are its ramifications?
  • Spending: What are good and bad ways of disposing of wealth? Do the poor have rights to the wealth of others?

Each of the four sessions will be prefaced with some comments from the facilitators.  Participants will then break out into smaller groups to read and discuss the texts, guided by focus questions.  Everybody will then reconvene for a general discussion.

The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religion

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9780415831970

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 coverage of ancient religions in the Mediterranean world.”  It is now available for pre-order, with publication scheduled for December 15, 2015.  While I have my own skepticism about the proliferation of encyclopedias, dictionaries, and handbooks, I genuinely believe that this fills an important niche for those in the field.  I am especially proud of the fact that so many excellent scholars contributed to the work.  Check it out here.