Then and Now
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 using micro-CT technology. It turns out to … [Continue reading] about The Ein Gedi Scroll: What We Could Potentially, Maybe Learn
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 tinkered with the syllabus for the upcoming … [Continue reading] about Great Jewish Books: Second Time Around
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 from the sixth century BCE to the seventh … [Continue reading] about Take That!
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 Testament. There are many reasons to doubt … [Continue reading] about Is the Bible True? Should It Matter?
Construction on campus caused me to detour the other day to an out of the way corner of the Green where a tower sits. I had, of course, seen this tower before, but never close up and its (very well-locked) … [Continue reading] about Love Is As Strong As Death