To continue the AJ Adult Education Committee’s spring series of learning sessions, Israel in Perspective: Putting the Pieces Together, AJ will welcome (via Zoom) Dr. David Bernat to help us look back at Israel through history using biblical and Rabbinic material. Dr. Bernat will present “Stones, Bones, and Stories: Archaeology & History in the Holy Land” in three sessions, every other Tuesday starting April 12. Attend any or all sessions. There is no charge for these sessions and the community is welcome.

Tuesday, April 12 at 7:30 PM (via Zoom)
“Hezekiah to the Hasmoneans” will focus on Hezekiah’s tunnel and the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrian king Sennacherib during Hezekiah’s reign [~700 BCE], arguably one of the most telling moments in Biblical history. In addition, we will range across the timeline through the Babylonian Exile, Persian Period, Alexander the Great’s conquests, and the 100-year dynasty of the Maccabees, the Hasmonean royal family.

Tuesday, April 26 at 7:30 PM (via Zoom)
“Herod to Hadrian” will take up Israel during the Roman era. We will focus on the reign of Herod [37 – 4 BCE] and his massive building projects that have stood the test of time and technology. Among other achievements, Herod developed Jerusalem, and the Temple as a crown jewel and urban exemplar his Roman patrons, particularly Caesar Augustus. The Kotel, the Western Wall, remains as a living testament to Herod’s influence. We will also look at the first revolt against Rome [66 – 73 CE], the destruction of the second Temple, and the Bar Kochba revolt, and the material evidence of both that is still extant, in Israel.

Tuesday, May 10 at 7:30 PM (via Zoom)
“The Religious Life of Our Ancestors: Temples, Synagogues, and Miqvaot” will explore the evidence of how Judaism was observed in its nascent days. A wealth of shrines, altars, idols, and temples of the Biblical era, along with synagogues and miqvaot, ritual bath complexes, built during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, are preserved throughout modern Israel in national parks and easily accessible to visitors. We will explore these artifacts and relevant written texts from the Hebrew Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Rabbinic writings as testimony to the way in which our forebearers practiced their religion. We will also think about the continuities and disjuncture between Judaism’s early days and how we practice today.

Dr. David Bernat is a consultant in Outreach and Development with JALSA, The Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action. He has a Ph.D. in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies from Brandeis, is the author of Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision in the Priestly Tradition and co-editor of Religion and Violence: The Biblical Heritage. Dr. Bernat has held faculty positions at UMass Amherst and Wellesley College, and regularly leads adult education tours to Israel with an historical and archaeological focus.

PLEASE NOTE: You must be vaccinated (and boosted if eligible, determined by the date of your last vaccination) to attend.