by Justin Goldstein · Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
cross-posted at pardesyehuda.blogspot.com
The New York Times reports that Israel is digitally photographing the Dead Sea Scrolls to make them available to the public on the internet. According to the report, the project will take two years and will, for the first time, make all of the scrolls publically available.
Unfortunately, the heat and light from the photographs expedite the deterioration of the scrolls. The scrolls, however, are deteriorating anyways, and researchers hope to find this is a means to track the rate of deterioration–seemingly this would help them understand better how to preserve ancient scrolls.
More than that, it makes the scrolls accessible to scholars of all degree, students of all age and interest, and the public at large. According to the report, the technology being employed will even make previously illegible sections legible for the first time.
For “text heads” out there who would like a preview of what this project might look like should check out the Aleppo Codex online, where you can see digital images of the most accurate transcript of the Bible according to the Masoretic tradition.
I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting to see the Copper Scroll!
by Diaspora Mentality · Wednesday, August 6th, 2008
Archeology is always political. (As should be clear to anyone who has visited Jerusalem.)
The New York Times recently ran an article on Jawdat N. Khoudary, a Gazan businessman who built and funded an archeology museum in Gaza.
“The idea is to show our deep roots from many cultures in Gaza,” Khoudary is quoted as saying. “It’s important that people realize we had a good civilization in the past. Israel has legitimacy from its history. We do, too.”
An eclectic view of history only goes so far, it seems. One aside has Khoudary mentioning that certain exhibits in his collection, including, “A statue of a full-breasted Aphrodite [...], other ancient deities and oil lamps featuring menorahs,” are being held back from the public exhibition. Khoudary hints Hamas government and the conservative sensibilities of Gazans as the reason for this self-censorship.
It also seems there is potential for a loan of Gazan artifacts from the Israel Museum, should the political environment ever stabilize in Gaza. Well, either a loan or a drawn-out battle over said artifacts.
by Danya · Sunday, July 6th, 2008
The New York Times reports,
A three-foot-tall tablet with 87 lines of Hebrew that scholars believe dates from the decades just before the birth of Jesus is causing a quiet stir in biblical and archaeological circles, especially because it may speak of a messiah who will rise from the dead after three days.
If such a messianic description really is there, it will contribute to a developing re-evaluation of both popular and scholarly views of Jesus, since it suggests that the story of his death and resurrection was not unique but part of a recognized Jewish tradition at the time.
The tablet, probably found near the Dead Sea in Jordan according to some scholars who have studied it, is a rare example of a stone with ink writings from that era — in essence, a Dead Sea Scroll on stone.
It is written, not engraved, across two neat columns, similar to columns in a Torah. But the stone is broken, and some of the text is faded, meaning that much of what it says is open to debate.
Still, its authenticity has so far faced no challenge, so its role in helping to understand the roots of Christianity in the devastating political crisis faced by the Jews of the time seems likely to increase.
Full story.
by shamirpower · Friday, June 13th, 2008
I just received this from the JTS Bible department listerv from my former Bible M.A. adviser:
Are you tired of doing the NY Times crossword puzzles or sudoku puzzles (at the evil level) during the summer? Here is a puzzle you might want to consider working on while on the beach or in Vermont. It comes from someone who has just visited Russia. She wants to know what the accompanying text is (part of her letter to me is underneath). If anyone has some success in solving the text, let me know. There is no prize, but the “winner” will be acknowledged with great acclaim at the next Bible Dept Lunch.
Good luck!
- DM
[email from person who found the book]
Recently while visiting on of the countries of the former USSR I was approached by someone with a question: the family was in possession of what they believe is an ancient Jewish religious book/scripture and they were interested in finding out exactly what this book meant. Several experts from Russia attest that the language is neither Arameic, nor Hebrew, and that the red frame around the words is uncharacteristical of ancient Jewish religious writings. And this is as far as anyone got… The cover of this book is wooden and the pages appear to be made out of pergament.
*Since 3 people on the listerv already figured it out, I wanted to see if any Jewschooler wants to try an solve it. The winner will have the option of writing a guest post related to archeology and modern relevance. (Here are some leads for you). The contest will end by Shabbat of next week. Go for it!
by zt · Thursday, June 12th, 2008
I believe this is the first, and probably last time I will ever write this next phrase: DailyKos has a really funny post up that is both John McCain and Caves of Qumran themed.
In light of kos’ display of Barack Obama’s birth certificate, John McCain’s campaign has released a rare glimpse of the Republican candidate’s own birth certificate.
Thought lost for the ages, the document was found in a clay jar, in an abandoned cave, on the outskirts of Sedona, by a shepherd boy in 1947. The desert climate and the dry atmosphere in the caves kept the parchment remarkably well preserved.
Unfortunately, the language on the document is in Essene, a language which has been dead for about 1,900 years. So, much like a lot of Senator McCain’s modern-day speeches, press releases, and interviews, nobody can really comprehend what it says.
Well done OWCH. Both the Essenes and John McCain come from the desert, have strongly held eschatological beliefs, and have versions of the “straight talk express”. The big difference, of course, is that the Essenes were ascetic and avoided marriage. McCain likes marriage. In fact he was married to his first wife Carol when he went to war. She got disfigured in a terrible car accident and he soon divorced her and married a loaded beer heiress named Cindy source. I wonder what Josephus has to say about that.
by BZ · Wednesday, December 19th, 2007
II Kings 25:1-2 and Jeremiah 52:4-5:
In the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar moved against Jerusalem with his whole army. He besieged it, and they built towers against it all around. The city continued in a state of siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
As I left my apartment this morning, I noticed that the weather in Jerusalem on 10 Tevet is rainy and very cold. (Not as cold as, say, the northern United States outdoors, but much colder indoors.) And I couldn’t help but wonder: What was Nebuchadnezzar thinking? Why pick this time of year to send his army to Jerusalem, where they’d have to build towers in the cold and rain? Everyone knows that military campaigns start in the spring. The besieged people inside were also presumably doing ok at that point, since they would have already harvested whatever they’d need for the winter. Indeed, according to Jeremiah 52:6, they didn’t run out of food until the summer (the fourth month is Tammuz). So what gives? Clearly, ìöòøðå, Nebuchadnezzar was successful in the end, but was this the most effective way of accomplishing his objective? Or is this the biblical narrative’s subtle way of indicating that the destruction of Jerusalem was divine punishment and not a mere human conquest, by showing that the destruction went ahead despite questionable tactics (cf. Elijah pouring water on the altar before it gets consumed by fire)? Any thoughts?
May this be the last year that the fast of Tevet is a day of mourning. (Since this is a sad day, I’m not going to amuse myself and about three of you by pointing out that, redemption or no redemption, 10 Tevet will in fact not occur in 2008.)
by YehuditBrachah · Sunday, December 9th, 2007
Christian Newswire tells us the real meaning of Chanukah, while quoting a rabbi speaking for the charedi Igud HaRabonim/Rabbinical Alliance of America:
Rabbi Yehuda Levin issued the following statement:
Chanukah is not a winter solstice holiday, nor a present exchanging Kwanza lite. The Macabees revolted against the Syrian-Greeks only when they tried to squelch Jewish rituals dealing with modesty, holiness and the service of G-d. It was when the allies of the Syrian-Greeks, upper class socially liberal Jews, known as Hellenists, embraced the attempted abolition of ritual circumcision, Sabbath, and the Holidays and encouraged young Jews to cavort nude in the gymnasiums they built (Gymnos, the Greek word for nude) that the loyal religious Jews defied their “enlightened”, “progressive”, “socially liberal” (read libertine) reprobate brethren and sacrificed their lives to prevent the “Hell”enization of Jewish Holiness. Anyone who is familiar with ancient Greek culture knows about the centrality of homosexuality in their daily lives. It is obvious that what followed the nudity in the gymnasium and the emphasis on the body, was rampant institutionalized homosexuality, which religious Jews have associated with Amalek’s attack on the ancient Jews during their desert sojourn (as stated in the Torah/Bible).
The faithful Jews, willingly martyred themselves to defeat the debauchery of that time both heterosexual and homosexual. Thus Chanukah represents the first ever defeat of a world power’s homosexual agenda!
More »
by Danya · Wednesday, December 5th, 2007
A piece I wrote about facing down the difficult history of Chanukah is in the Jewish Journal this week. It starts by talking about some of the lesser-known features of the Hasmonean war, including some exceedingly ugly stuff that Jews did after winning the Jew-on-Jew civil war and vanquishing the Syrian-Greek reigning power. It’s a pretty easy to get disillusioned with this holiday in particular, to have trouble finding the light in the bleakness of our history laid bare.
The question, of course, is what to do with disturbing information about our tradition, and how that might impact our theologies and understandings of ourselves, God and Judaism. How can we embrace Chanukah without denying the full history of what happened?
My ruminations on all of this can be found here.
by YehuditBrachah · Wednesday, October 17th, 2007
An interesting piece in the Jerusalem Post this month about the development of the Hebrew alphabet: as opposed to the Phoenician system of lettering, the Hebrews developed vowels, which allowed people to read out loud their texts, contributed to the spreading of the Bible, and the lasting impact of Judaism. Also, we loved it so much we named our god after the achievement.
In short, the patriarch, matriarch, and deity of the Hebrews all get their names by adding a heh to convert otherwise common words into special ones. The Hebrews used their vowel-letters not just to make writing possible, but to create their most important names.
In addition to ?LHYM, we find a second, four-letter name for God, the tetragrammaton (which means “four-letters” in Greek). The four letters are yud, heh, vav, heh. Common pronunciations such as “Yahweh” or “Jehovah” miss the point. What really matters here is the remarkable fact that this name consists entirely of the Hebrews’ newly invented vowel letters, each included once, with the particularly special heh repeated.
The tetragrammaton is unique in ancient Hebrew, in that its pronunciation seems divorced from its spelling. It also seems to lack any plausible etymology, and is unattested in similar ancient languages. Now we know why. The Hebrews paid homage to the vowel letters that made it possible to spread the Word of God by using those letters to refer to God.
Full article.
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Thursday, August 9th, 2007
Boy, I’m feeling cranky today. Is it the news, or just the weather?
Yes, indeed, we are all to stand in awe of another Bronfman project to lead the Jewish world into the Future. According to JTA, “three dozen Jewish intellectuals are put in a swank ski resort for 48 hours and let loose on the question ‘Why be Jewish?’”
From July 29-31 the Samuel Bronfman Foundation ran a conference hosted by the foundation’s managing director, Adam Bronfman, son of philanthropist Edgar Bronfman, that “included French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion President David Ellenson, writer Anita Diamant and other rabbis, professors, artists, philanthropists and communal professionals.”
But even JTA itself noticed, “These rarefied, all-expenses-paid gatherings beg the question: ‘So what?’ What does it matter if a bunch of smart Jews sit around talking? Some in Park City wondered the same thing. ‘The take-away is there’s no take-away,’ said former Under Secretary of Defense Dov Zakheim of Washington. Some participants questioned the top-down premise. ‘There’s a presumption that we get to answer the question “Why be Jewish” on behalf of the “amcha,” ‘ or Jewish people, said Idit Klein, executive director of Keshet, an advocacy group for gay inclusion.”
In other words, even the grand old daddies (well, not Keshet, exactly) of institutional life are beginning to wonder, along with the rest of us, why there are all these conferences in which “important people” chosen by other “important people” sit around yakking about what the rest of us ought to do. I suppose it’s news that, at least in this case,
If some participants grumbled about the conference’s lack of tangible goals, organizers insisted that was the point.
“We’re not looking for ‘an answer,’ ” explained the foundation’s executive director, Dana Raucher. “We’ve gathered a rather eclectic mix of people, each of whom has something to offer. Each of these people has influence somewhere. Each of them will hopefully have been enriched by this and will take the conversation home with them.”
In other words, they didn’t come out of the conference with another program that doesn’t change anything, or more instructions that have nothing to do with actually living a Jewish life that we’re all to fall in behind with cash in hand. Perhaps that’s an improvement. Although I do have to draw breath at such pronouncements as, “In fact, as more than one conference attendee pointed out, the Talmud, the seminal text of rabbinic Judaism, emerged out of just such open-ended conversations among Jewish leaders.” Wow. I think our old friends the Greeks might have referred to this as hubris.
I think, though that the most important comment in the article is this:
Arthur Gross-Schaefer, a professor of business law and ethics at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, said the American Jewish community “needs a new myth” that can appeal to the younger, largely unaffiliated generation. That’s something this group, and others like it, can realistically tackle, he said.
It seems to me that this nicely sums up the attitude that hasn’t shifted amongst the cohort that is failing to engage those whom they ostensibly wish to engage. In other words, there’s you young people out there, not doing what we want you to do; we need to make up a nice story for you (yes, I’m aware of the Gillman idea of myth, eh.), so that you’ll fall in line with our priorities. Instead of actually talking to the young, affiliated, engaged people in their teens, twenties, thirties and forties - and even older folks who have helped build these alternative organzations, groups, minyans and institutions- who have built an entirely different way of relating to Judaism, just as vibrant (actually, IMO, more vibrant, and also healthier and more Jewish) as the old Holocaust, peoplehood, anti-semitism emphasis of the last thirty-five years.
There’s no shortage of young Jews engaging as “more observant” than their elders, of independant minyanim, trichitzas, potlucks for eating habits across the spectrum, social justice Judaism as an outgrowth of halachah, and organizations that are helping build these new foundations out of what are really, the old bricks that we had forgotten about for oh, so long while we were busy becoming American: how about JFSJ, JUFJ, JFREJ - well, you all know the drill, we talk about them all the time here.
Bronfmans: we’re waiting on you.
by LastTrumpet · Monday, April 9th, 2007
Conservative author Charles Murray begins his piece “Jewish Genius” in Commentary thusly:
Since its first issue in 1945, COMMENTARY has published hundreds of articles about Jews and Judaism. As one would expect, they cover just about every important aspect of the topic. But there is a lacuna, and not one involving some obscure bit of Judaica. COMMENTARY has never published a systematic discussion of one of the most obvious topics of all: the extravagant overrepresentation of Jews, relative to their numbers, in the top ranks of the arts, sciences, law, medicine, finance, entrepreneurship, and the media.
The article begins with a historical perspective, making a case that post-haskalah (enlightenment), Jewish involvement and accomplishment in the brainy parts, namely arts and sciences (notice we’re not very good at sports) of the broader society has been vastly disproportionate to our meager numbers (”our” not including Murray, who isn’t Jewish).
More »
by Danya · Thursday, March 15th, 2007
Two texty treats:
by Kol Ra'ash Gadol · Friday, February 9th, 2007
Cleanliness is next to… disease?
Recent findings show that the Essenes practiced some extreme forms of ritual hygiene which ironically, lead to them being a rather sickly bunch.
According to an article at Physorg.com,
(Best phrase in article, “exotic toilet practices”)
In an article forthcoming in the next issue (winter 2006/2007) of Revue de Qumran, an international research team reports the results of an investigation of a suspected remote latrine site. Located by following clues in the ancient sources that specify the remote placement of latrines, the team positively identified the site as a latrine area through analysis of sub-surface soil samples.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte biblical scholar James Tabor suggested the investigation at a site outside the ruins of Qumran, noting instructions in two of the Dead Sea Scrolls (the “War Scroll†and the “Temple Scrollâ€) specifically requiring latrines to be located at a significant distance “north-west of the city,†and also to be “not visible from the city.†Tabor had also noted that the first century Jewish historian Josephus described very similar exotic toilet practices among the religiously strict sect known as the Essenes….
“I started thinking that in the scrolls they have these very explicit descriptions of where the latrines have to be,†Tabor explained. “It has to do with religious ritual purity — the latrines have to be located in a place that the ancient texts designate as ‘outside the camp’. That’s a phrase used in the Torah, where Moses tells the ancient Israelites ‘build your latrines outside the camp.’ When you go to the toilet, take a paddle or a shovel with you and use the toilet and then cover it up,†he said, explaining that the ancient practice appears to have been revived at Qumran.
More »
by Danya · Saturday, December 16th, 2006
Haaretz reports on a new theory suggesting that the tale of the Maccabees’ response to religious oppression may be about as well-founded as the claim that there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq:
Antiochus IV Epiphanes (215-163 BC), ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, was known as an eccentric king. He spent his childhood as a hostage in Rome and ascended to the throne only due to the surprising death of his father and murder of his brother.
When he inherited the kingdom it was already in decline. However, this does not explain the moves that made him infamous to this day - the brutal edicts he issued against the Jews in 167 B.C., forbidding them to practice their religion.
“The reason for Antiochus’ oppression of the Jewish faith, attack on the Temple and prohibition of the Torah precepts is not explained by the existing historic sources,” says Dr. Steven Weitzman, a lecturer of Judaism in the University of Indiana and the author of Surviving Sacrilege: Cultural Persistence in Jewish Antiquity.
Weitzman analyzes the description of the edicts in the Hanukkah tale, and concludes that the story was concocted by the Hasmonean kings as propaganda intended to legitimize their precarious rule. The Hasmoneans used literary tales dating back to ancient Eastern kingdoms as the basis for their story of Antiochus, he says.
Full story here.
(Hat tip to Aryeh Cohen for the link.)
(X-posted to Jerusalem Syndrome.)
by sarah · Friday, October 6th, 2006
The link below (apparently Wordpress doesn’t let me embed Flash?) goes to a really neat cartoon that shows the various empires that have controlled the Middle East from 3000 B.C.E. until today. I’m not a history buff, but I found this really entertaining and perhaps it will be of interest and use to some of you.
Imperial History of the Middle East
One piece of this project that’s pretty interesting is the author’s “Revisions” page, which describes changes made to the map over time due to user comments. It seems there was originally a predicted Iranian empire on the timeline. Joy. Anyway, now that we Jews can go get a look at the thing, perhaps we can offer our own predictions of a Messianic time. (w00t! In our days!)
by Ruby K · Wednesday, August 30th, 2006
Here in the US, Labor Day is approaching. Got this nice piece that ties in traditional sources and the Jewish involvement in the development of the American Labor movement, from Eli Fishman and Arieh Lebowitz of the Jewish Labor Committee. Take a read, and think about what we need to be doing to help workers have decent lives now.
(if anyone knows how to fix the hebrew, great, if not, I’ll delete it shortly as I don’t know how to fix it.)
Take it away, gents:
Jewish Labor Committee
September 2, 2006
èòèéîà ÷Îøòèòáøà øòùéãéé
LABOR DAY MESSAGE
In describing the Laws of Equity, Humanity and Kindness, the Torah’s most elemental precept with respect to the treatment of one’s fellow man is found in the first chapter of the Torah’s first book, Genesis, verse 26. It is written: ‘…åðúåîãë åðîìöá Ããà äùòð Ãéäìà øîà éå.’ “And God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…’ Remembering that all people are made in God’s image, we are reminded that treating all employees with dignity that befits their humanity is a biblical injunction. More specifically there is an important passage in the Torah that unequivocally explains responsibilities towards labor: (ãéÓãë Ãéøáã) ‘Óêéøòùá êöøà á øùà êøâî åà êéçà î ïåéáà å éðò øéëù ÷ùòúÎà ì.’ “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he be of your brothers, or of your foreigners who are in your land within your gates.†(Deuteronomy 24:14) The Torah also explicitly calls for the prompt payment of a worker’s wages: “On the same day as his work, you shall give him his wages: the sun shall not go down without this, for he needs these wages, and sets his heart on it; lest he cry against you to God, and you will incur the guilt of a sin.†(Deuteronomy 24:15) More »
by TheBarkin · Tuesday, July 25th, 2006
A few months ago, Rabbi Jack Riemer decided that Islamo-Fascists are an incarnation of Amalek.
Last week, Rabbi Marc Gellman made a similar declaration in his Newsweek column. It turns out, according to Gellman, that Amalek utilized the same tactics as Hezbollah:
What made Amalek so dastardly was that unlike any other enemy who attacked the Israelites fleeing slavery in Egypt from the front, Amalek attacked the rear. This meant that his soldiers could kill women and children, the elderly and the infirm and in so doing avoid engagement with the soldiers at the front. In this way he could produce maximum carnage and maximum terror.
Of course Deut. 25:17-19 instructs us to remember Amalek for a good reason. Sayeth Gellman:
I believe this is because the planned and plotted slaughter of innocents even during wartime cannot be condoned and must be remembered as a bright moral line which can never be crossed.
Sorry. I have a bullshit meter that buzzes whenever someone uses the Torah to score political points. But maybe that’s just me. Perhaps the Amalek label is appropriate here.
[Don't worry. Newsweek's erudite readers bash Gellman plenty in this week's Letters to the Editor.]
by David Kelsey · Monday, July 17th, 2006
The sin of sinas chinum, (translated as “baseless hatred,†“needless hatred,†and “unwarranted hatredâ€) was given by our sages as the root cause for the destruction of the second temple. It is frequently invoked as an admonishment for how we treat our fellow Jew.
But common attempts to explain this term as strictly referring to Jewish divisiveness and lashon hora (evil speech) specifically during the second commonwealth do not add up historically.
During the first commonwealth, there was idol worship and murder, a split in the kingdom, and a civil war. Do we really believe there was less divisiveness and evil speech than in the second commonwealth?Â
Even during Moshe’s reign, there were detractors and even a full scale attempt at rebellion.  Â
What was unique during the second commonwealth was not signature Jewish divisiveness, but rather, striking Jewish unity and unchecked power during the peak of the fundamentalist Hasmonean regime. And it was their sinas chinum, and the sinas chinum of zealous Jews in subsequent generations, that led to a continued deteriorating situation with Rome, and the subsequent destruction of the second commonwealth, in varying and increasingly severe stages.
The Hasmoneans sure did hate the Greeks. And there were certainly good reasons to hold a grudge. But the Greeks were defeated, even if only to the point the Americans were defeated in our conflict with Cuba. Even today, the U.S. military base remains. But unlike Castro, who continues to accept Guantanamo Bay as a reality he must swallow, the Hasmoneans were blinded by their hatred, and invited Rome in to drive out the Greeks, even though the Greeks were no longer the threat they once were, nor did they have the designs for us they once did.Â
And Roman intervention was (surprise, surprise) not for free. The Greek base was merely replaced with a Roman one. And we were now on the expansive Roman map.Â
Even the pro-Roman King Herod can be traced to Hasmonean sinas chinum, as he was a paternal descendent of Hasmonean conversions by sword.  So too, after eventually being conquered by the Romans, many Jews continued to resist out of bitter rage, consistently rejecting realpolitik. It had all the success of pulling on a slip knot. The destruction only increased in severity with each ill-fated rebellion.Â
As we look with anger towards Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, it is important that we do not emotionally focus on the wrongs that are being done to us, or even the wrongs that are intended for us.Â
It is simply not a luxury that a small civilization with one tiny country can afford. We always have to think rationally, and not set policy out of anger.Â
It is not enough to condemn sinas chinum towards each other. We must not have sinas chinum towards others. Even towards our enemies.
