Then and Now
Last month there was a workshop in Jerusalem on charity in rabbinic literature that I was sorry to miss. There has been a great deal of scholarly interest lately on the topic of charity generally in antiquity, among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. … [Continue reading] about The Poor and Their Relief in the Mishnah
I have been teaching for many years in the Me'ah adult learning program run by Hebrew College in Newton, Massachusetts. I've always enjoyed teaching in this program and having the opportunity to interact with the wider Jewish community. Such … [Continue reading] about The Geonim: An Introduction
With the publication of Daniel Boyarin's book, Judaism: The Genealogy of a Modern Notion, "Judaism" is back on the scholarly agenda. The book (for which I supplied a blurb) was recently the center of an interesting forum in Marginalia, and comes on … [Continue reading] about Philo’s Definition of “Judaism”
In light of the latest college admissions scandal (now almost old news), I wrote something on how a simple but radical reform can improve not just the process at selective universities, but ripple down to make our world a better place (admittedly, in … [Continue reading] about The College Admissions Process
Over the past few years I have served as Managing Editor of Brown Judaic Studies (BJS), a scholarly monograph series. I am very excited to announce that after a few attempts, we have succeeded in obtaining a grant from the Mellon Foundation, through … [Continue reading] about Open Books!