Assistant Professor of Rabbinic Literatures & Cultures @JTSVoice | Philology, History, Religion | Also: TV, Parenting, Knicks |
Dec 18, 2020 • 20 tweets • 6 min read
A quick little thread—before it's too late!—on late ancient Jewish views of Hanukkah/the Hasmoneans *outside of classical rabbinic literature*, which, actually, do conform a bit more to the modern "nationalist" readings. 1/
But first—if this is the first twitter thread on Hanukkah by an historian of ancient Judaism that you're reading, you may want to pause and head over to read this one by @AnnetteYReed
So many amazing lines in this episode ("A Maccababy's gotta do what a Maccababy's gotta do"; "To be, or—Maccabee"), & cultural critique (the role of the Cynthia Christmas special; Cynthia depicted as Isis; Antiochus portrayed by a businessman who just wants affection & family).
But I think the biggest contribution of the episode is its very premise: the mistaking of "MEANING" for "MEANY."
May 16, 2019 • 26 tweets • 6 min read
THREAD
Some thoughts and observations on the recent Brody (RB)-Soloveitchik (HS) forum. I’m not gonna get into everything, as a lot of this is not so pleasant. So just some meta-commentary:
1/?
1) This is an argument between two male, Ashkenazi, experts in rabbinic literature. This is important, as their argument is about male, Ashkenazi, medieval, experts in rabbinic literature.
2/?
