Yes. Kind of. Maybe.Thus is the status quaestionis as it emerged from a mini-symposium at Harvard University yesterday. Firmly on one side of the question was Shaye Cohen and Moshe Halbertal. Both pointed to the radical difference between the … [Continue reading] about Were the Rabbis Revolutionary?
Conference Reflections: Archaeology and Texts
Academic conferences tend to peter out. The time is late; all are tired; even some of the panelists have already left for home. There is thus often little time or energy at the end for reflection, synthesis, and robust discussion. The Talmuda … [Continue reading] about Conference Reflections: Archaeology and Texts
Archaeology and the Rabbis: 2
Today was a full day of papers. So without further ado:Shawn Zelig Aster, Yeshiva University, Mishnah Baba Metzia 7,7 and the Distribution of the Phoenician Jar: The Relationship of Mishnaic Hebrew to Northern Biblical Hebrew and to PhoenicianUsing … [Continue reading] about Archaeology and the Rabbis: 2
Archaeology and the Talmud: 1
This week Yeshivah University is hosting a 2-day conference entitled, Talmuda de-Eretz Israel: Archaeology and the Rabbis in Late Antiquity. Here is a report on day 1:Eric Meyers, Duke University, The Use of Archaeology in Understanding Rabbinic … [Continue reading] about Archaeology and the Talmud: 1
The End of Lachrymosity
Over half a century ago, the great Jewish historian Salo Baron famously declared an end to the lachrymose view of Jewish history. By this he meant that prior Jewish historians had an almost unremittingly bleak view of Jewish history. Jews, in these … [Continue reading] about The End of Lachrymosity