Podcasts by From Israelite to Jew

A New (Virtual) Home! from 2011-08-08T05:37:25

I have moved this blog and consolidated it with my other websites. Please update any feeds and keep visiting, at http://www.mlsatlow.com! I look forward to seeing you there.

Apocalypse, One of These Days from 2011-07-05T11:13:42

I had the good fortune of recently attending "The Enoch Seminar," which this year was devoted to study of the books of Listen

Through the Lens of "Judeo-Christian" from 2011-05-18T05:19:13

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gninoitseuQ "belief" from 2011-05-02T10:02:43

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To Flog or not to Flog? from 2011-04-28T07:26:21

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The Pope, the Jews, and the Vatican Museums from 2011-04-18T08:01

My essay on "The Pope, the Jews, and the Vatican Museums," was just posted online at "The Forward," and will appear in the next print edition.

If it is built, would anybody come? from 2011-04-12T07:29:17

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Do Dogs Have Free-will? from 2011-04-05T16:34:20

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Workshop CFP: Ancient Religion, Modern Technology from 2011-04-01T09:43:59

The following announcement will soon be going out widely. Please feel free to circulate!


Workshop Call for Papers
February 13-14, 2012
Br...

Were the Rabbis Revolutionary? from 2011-03-30T05:33:47

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Conference Reflections: Archaeology and Texts from 2011-03-29T07:59:53

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...

Archaeology and the Rabbis: 2 from 2011-03-28T19:53:45

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Archaeology and the Talmud: 1 from 2011-03-27T19:50:16

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The End of Lachrymosity from 2011-03-07T16:36:50

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 unremi...

Who is a Jew? No, Really. from 2011-02-23T14:29:31

The traditional legal definition of a Jew is well-known: the child of a Jewish mother or a convert. Sure, there is a little fuzziness around the edges as Orthodox Jews in Israel in particular debat...

The Human Condition from 2011-02-11T13:45:23

Last month I saw the exhibit Figuratively Speaking: A Survey of the Human Form at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. What was...

Perfection from 2011-01-23T08:35:49

In a recent issue of The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik discusses the modern dessert. His investigation soon took him to S...

What I Learned in Prison from 2011-01-20T08:49:54

I recently finished teaching a four-class course on the Book of Psalms to medium security inmates of our state ACI (Adult Correctional Institute). The course was organized through a student group ...

Fooling Around with Digital Humanities from 2011-01-05T17:24:30

I have long been interested in ways in which modern technology can enhance what I do, as a scholar and a teacher. In the classroom I have used podcasts and wikis, and I continue to work on a Listen

From Israelite to Jew: 6: The Torah from 2010-12-22T13:06:48

In this episode I discuss the historical formation of the Torah, or Pentateuch, and provide an introduction to the documentary hypothesis. I am now receiving technical support from Brown University...

A Usable Past from 2010-11-09T03:35:04

I just finished Albert Baumgarten's engaging biography of Elias Bickerman,
Elias Bickerman as Historian of the Jews: A Twentieth Century Tale, which was also recently reviewed by Ant...

Death, and the Modern American Synagogue from 2010-10-25T05:26:42

I had the pleasure this last week of listening to a lecture by Professor Carlos Eire, of Yale University. (Full dislosure: I was a coll...

Larry Axel Memorial Lecture from 2010-10-20T08:08:38

I just presented the Larry Axel Memorial Lecture at Purdue University. The talk was entitled, "Big Givers: The Origins of Jewish Philanthropy." The publicity paragraph reads:

Wh...

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"Day of Judgment" from 2010-09-08T05:56:33

Tonight Rosh HaShanah begins. It is probably safe to say that many Jews associate the holiday with two theological themes. The first, emphasized especially in children's books and early Jewish ed...

Memory, History, and Jews in the Eighteenth Century from 2010-06-09T09:47:14

I've just spent a fascinating few days reading through Jewish ritual calendars luhot - that date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Many of these calendars contain a short, on...

"Fruit and the Fruit of Fruit" from 2010-05-26T11:32:10

My article, "Fruit and the Fruit of Fruit: Charity and Piety among Jews in Late Antique Palestine" has just appeared the Jewish Quarterly Review 100 (2010): ...

Costly Mistakes from 2010-05-18T07:26:48

In the new Bevis Marks synagogue in London, in 1701, the hazan, or salaried prayer-leader, was fined for every mistake he made while reading from the Torah. ...

Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine from 2010-05-12T05:29:21

I am happy to report a significant upgrade to the site, Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine. The site will eventually make accessible all of the published inscr...

from 2010-04-19T08:30:05

Last Friday I delivered a plenary address at the NE regional SBL meeting in Newton, MA. Below is the text:

Who Needs Theory? An Historian’s Polemic
Michael Satlow

I hav...

The Gift in Antiquity from 2010-04-09T07:39:43

On May 2-4, 2010, Brown will be hosting a conference entitled "The Gift in Antiquity." The purpose of this conference is to use the theoretical frame of the "gift" (especially as discussed by Marc...

Jewish Time from 2010-04-07T13:06:03

I have always been interested in how real people lived their lives; how they negotiated the quotidian demands and stresses that accompany all human societies. I like intellectual history, but one ...

Please Consider a Contribution from 2010-01-21T06:39:28

I hope that you have enjoyed this podcast series.

As I explain in the last podcast episode, I did not set out to create this series in order to make money. I have enjoyed what I have le...

From Israelite to Jew: 22: After the Destruction: A Beginning or and End? from 2010-01-21T06:30:54

The Jerusalem Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, a moment that typically is said to mark in Jewish historiography the end of the "second temple period" and beginning of the "rabbinic period." But to wh...

From Israelite to Jew: 21: Destruction from 2010-01-14T06:23:45

The Jewish revolt in Judea that began in 66 CE ended with the Roman destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70. Why, though, did the Jews in Judea and the Galilee revolt? And why did the Romans dest...

From Israelite to Jew: 20: The First Century from 2009-11-23T11:37:07

This episode focuses on the years 6 CE - 66 CE, and the events leading up to the Jewish revolt. This episode includes discussions of Roman administration and the Sanhedrin. The episode can be heard...

From Israelite to Jew: 19: Josephus from 2009-11-03T08:35:07

Without the works of the historian Josephus (36/37 CE - ca. 95) we would know little about the history of the Jews in antiquity. Yet Josephus, as a historian and a man, was a complex figure: was he...

From Israelite to Jew: 18: Jesus and Other Strange Jews from 2009-10-13T14:20:25

In the first century CE the area around Jerusalem teemed with small Jewish religious groups, or sects. This episode focuses on three of the most well-known of these groups: Pharisees, Sadducees, an...

From Israelite to Jew: 17: The Dead Sea Scrolls from 2009-09-29T09:00:25

What are the Dead Sea scrolls? This episode discusses their discovery, contents, and meaning. The episode can be heard here or on the player below. More download options are here. The podcast can a...

Vacation! from 2009-08-03T06:23:05

It is time for a break.

Episodes will be forthcoming on topics such as the Dead Sea Scrolls; the development of Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes;the early followers of Jesus; the worsen...

From Israelite to Jew: 16: Philo from 2009-08-03T06:18:47

Philo Judaeus is the most well-known Jewish philosopher from antiquity. Living in Alexandria from ca. 20 BCE - 50 CE, Philo produced an astonishing corpus that has often been held up as a signal ex...

From Israelite to Jew: 15: Herod the Great from 2009-07-21T10:03:35

Was Herod the Great a brilliant ruler or a savage brute? This episode traces Herod's rise to power and his reign, 40 - 4 BCE. The episode can be heard here, or on the player below. More download op...

From Israelite to Jew: 14: Hellenistic Judaism from 2009-07-08T09:44:07

The religion of the Jews who lived in the Greek speaking areas of the Mediterranean is commonly called "Hellenistic Judaism". This episode explains why scholars use this term; why it is less useful...

From Israelite to Jew: 13: Origins of Jewish Sectarianism from 2009-06-26T08:01:53

On the origins of Jewish sectarianism in the second to first centuries, BCE, with a focus on Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and (if different) the first inhabitants of Qumran, where the Dead Sea sc...

From Israelite to Jew: 12: The Hasmonean Kings from 2009-06-17T06:52:58

A discussion of Judah's consolidation of power around 162 BCE to the last of the Hasmonean kings, in 30 BCE. The episode can be heard here, or on the player below. More download options are here. T...

From Israelite to Jew: 11: The Revolt of the Maccabees from 2009-05-27T09:36:57

Why did the Maccabees revolt around 165 BCE? This episode explores both the revolt of the Maccabees and the origins of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The episode can be heard here or on the player...

From Israelite to Jew: 10: Jubilees and 1 Enoch from 2009-05-11T06:07:47

A discussion of two books dating from the third or second centuries, BCE, Jubilees and 1 Enoch. Both books, part of a collection traditionally known as "the Pseudepigrapha," testify to a Jewish und...

From Israelite to Jew: 9: Hellenism Arrives from 2009-04-12T13:21:31

A discussion of Alexander's conquest of west Asia and its aftermath (323 - 200 BCE). What is "Hellenism," and how did the Jews react to it? Particular attention is paid to the Septuagint, Ecclesias...

From Israelite to Jew: 8: Jews of the Persian Empire from 2009-04-01T05:26:25

This episode discusses two Jewish communities outside of Jerusalem, that represented by the biblical book of Esther, and that of Elephantine, Egypt. It takes place in the fifth to fourth centuries,...

From Israelite to Jew: 7: Nehemiah from 2009-03-12T11:27:06

The seventh episode of the podcast, "From Israelite to Jew." This episode deals primarily with the career and reforms of Nehemiah, which lasted from 445 BCE to around 432 BCE. The podcast can be he...

The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Talmud from 2009-02-12T18:45:12

This is not an installment of "From Israelite to Jew," but is instead a reading of an essay recently published on Zeek, an online journal. The written version is here. This is a meditation on the T...

From Israelite to Jew: 5: Ezra from 2009-02-03T05:32:38

The fifth episode of the podcast, "From Israelite to Jew." This episode deals primarily with the career of Ezra, in 458 BCE. I discuss intermarriage in the Bible and the emergence of the Torah as a...

From Israelite to Jew: A New Podcast Series from 2009-02-02T10:13:26

Prior to 586 BCE, the Israelites worshipped a warrior God whom, they said, forged them into a nation and continued to protect them: He was their king, and they were His subjects. In allegiance to ...

About the Miracles (Al Ha-nisim) from 2009-02-02T10:12:55

It is Hanukah, and for eight days traditional Jews will add to their prayers - specifically the Amidah and Grace after Meals - the blessing "al ha-nisim. " This blessing thanks God for delivering ...

From Israelite to Jew: 4: Return from 2009-01-26T11:08:50

The fourth episode of the podcast, "From Israelite to Jew." This episode traces the first two returns from Babylonia to Jerusalem, first under Sheshbazzar and then under the dual leadership of Zeru...

From Israelite to Jew: 2: Religion of Israel from 2009-01-25T17:58:28

This is the second episode of the podcast, "From Israelite to Jew." It focuses on the religion of ancient Israel, as reflected in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and archaeological finds. The podc...

From Israelite to Jew: 3: Exile from 2009-01-16T03:23:53

The third episode of the podcast, "From Israelite to Jew." This episode discusses the events leading up to the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE, and the resulting exile. The ...

From Israelite to Jew: 1: Between Faith and Reason from 2008-12-30T09:26:28

This episode introduces my podcast series, "From Israelite to Jew." In it I examine the relationship between religion and its academic study, suggesting that the two ways of understanding religion ...