I am reading the proofs of my contribution to The Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries. The following quotes from Daniel Boyarin are true not only for dealing with what the Talmud has to say about Jesus but for any time we are engaging ancient texts. The effort […]
Judaism
This past year I was asked by Chris Keith to write a chapter on Jesus in the Talmud for The Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries. Last month I was invited to speak at the 1892 Club at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. They recorded it and have posted […]
UPDATE: The Targum manuscript Valmadonna 1 was sold separately to the Museum of the Bible. This is very good news! It appears the entire a portion of the collection has been purchased by the Israeli National Library. As I shared several years ago Sotheby’s was exhibiting and the family seeking to […]
I received an email recently from my undergraduate advisor and outstanding biblical scholar Gary Rendsburg announcing a new project: BenSira.org. This has been developed with one of his Rutger’s undergraduate honors students (of course!), Jacob Binstein. It looks to be an incredible resource. Please spread the word! Welcome to www.bensira.org, […]
I have never read as much Spinoza as I feel I should have (and I thought about that again while in Amsterdam). I had a colleague at a previous institution who was a HUGE Spinoza fan. He was also very reformed and, as this piece points out, would portray Spinoza […]
Given my recent research on the Book of Ruth, rabbinic interpretation thereof, and rabbinic conversion I am very disappointed that I will likely be traveling on the West Coast during this conference. If, however, you are in the Philly area and have such interests you should not miss this. Taking […]
When I was being shown around Freiburg last week my guide actually stumbled and then stopped and pointed to be the “Stolperstein” upon which she had halted. This term literally translates as a “stumbling stone” and is a small concrete cube covered in brass that is etched with the name […]
The Economist has a short article on a new edition of the Talmud. I haven’t spent much time with this so I am not sure how it is revolutionizing Talmud study… For Orthodox Jews, lifelong study of the Talmud is the supreme religious precept. But for many earnest students through […]