Exploring the Unexpected in Ancient Jewish Culture with Rafael Neis
Rafael Neis By Madison Morgan For more than 50 years, the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies has welcomed leading voices in the field
What is an ostracon? How the “scrap paper of the ancient world” offers glimpses of life in biblical times
Pieces of broken pottery ("ostraca") were commonly used to write letters, receipts, and notes in the ancient world, and these fragments show how biblical writings connect to real-world concerns of the time, writes graduate fellow Corinna Nichols.
The new wave of Jewish horror: Ancient folklore (and a child-stealing demoness) in modern movies
A string of recent horror movies connect ancient Jewish lore with universal fears about life, death, and birth, writes graduate fellow Elizabeth Férauge.
How imagined “bizarro worlds” invite us into the real worlds of ancient Israel and Egypt
Looking at ancient texts' "topsy-turvy" visions of the world can reveal a lot about the authors' assumptions, writes grad fellow Forrest Martin.
Mosaics of the Abraham & Isaac story show how Jews in late antiquity used art to connect with religion and community
Countering misperceptions, grad fellow Abby Massarano explains that Jews in the 6th century CE embraced visual art, and shows what we can learn about these communities from their depictions of the key story of Abraham's Binding of Isaac.
2/11 TALK | Outside of the Frame: Enslaved Persons in New Testament Ethics
Bernadette Brooten (Brandeis University) will give a virtual talk on the ways early Christian authors sought theologically to form gender and other relationships.
2/2 STUDENT EVENT | Ancient Perspectives on Same-Sex Relationships
How has the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as related in the Qur'an and Hebrew Bible shaped the ways Jews, Muslims and Christians thought and continue to think about same sex relationships. Explore this question with Cole Fellow Dr. Brendan Goldman.
VIDEO | Marina Rustow — Jewish Manuscripts in the Digital Age: The Cairo Geniza and the New Materiality
Dr. Marina Rustow of Princeton University will deliver the 2019 Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies.