The ASOR Blog has published my note on my stay last year at the W. F. Albright Institute for Archaeological Research as the Seymour Gitin Distinguished Professor. It can be read here. Please excuse the picture. … [Continue reading] about Project Note on Jewish Popular Piety
Teaching and Vulnerability
I have found myself at a delicate nexus this week. I facilitated a faculty discussion on active learning; prepared a draft of a proposal to teach a MOOC through Brown; helped my oldest son to submit his college application; and, of course, … [Continue reading] about Teaching and Vulnerability
The Goring Ox
Few biblical phrases have been as thoroughly parodied as the "goring ox." In fact, the entire ox-thing that the Bible has going is, for many, an ongoing source of amusement and puzzlement. Why does such a great, lofty, and divine text spend so much … [Continue reading] about The Goring Ox
Gluckel of Judah?
Seventh-century BCE Judah is not typically thought of as a hotbed of feminism. If the Hebrew Bible is to be believed, women were very much on the economic, social, religious, and legal margins of this society. The texts portray a … [Continue reading] about Gluckel of Judah?
The Rorschach Interview
A couple of months ago, I sat down with an Israeli journalist to talk about my work. It turned out that she was primarily interested in the issue of when and how "Judaism" as we more or less know it today emerged from the Israelite religion of the … [Continue reading] about The Rorschach Interview