Yonatan Adler @AdlerYonatan Twitter profile

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 years

This just landed on my desk.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

8 months

Pentateuch in Paleo-Hebrew Script. Just discovered this now! A brilliant way for students to practice reading their Paleo-Hebrew.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 years

Food for thought: No surviving texts from the Second Temple period mention any kind of pool used specifically for ritual immersions. We know these existed—in large numbers and everywhere there were Judeans—only from archaeology. What else is missing from our textual record?

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 years

I am very pleased to announce the forthcoming publication of my book, The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal, due out with @yalepress in early autumn. Preorders are available today! (Feel free to share and retweet).

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

7 months

A Bar Kokhba era (132–135 CE) hiding complex has been found at Huqoq in Galilee. The find adds to a growing body of evidence from northern sites relating to the Second Revolt which suggests that the rebellion extended beyond Judea, deep into Galilee. 1/10

Ancient Jewish hiding place found near Kinneret, in northern Israel

The area is mentioned in the Book of Joshua (Joshua 19:34) and has been settled since ancient times.

www.jpost.com

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 years

Exciting news for those interested in the fascinating phenomenon of ancient Jewish chalk vessels. They are older than we thought. A 🧵 1/8

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 years

This appeared in The Mirror, dated January 23, 1923. Biblical scholars, however, would recognize this as vaticinium ex eventu—prophecy after the event—and downdate it by about 100 years.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 months

This new article (now in proofs stage) is something of a 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗹 to my book, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘮 (Yale 2022). I’ll share a brief summary in a 🧵 here. The full article should be online (for free—open access) quite soon! 1/14

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

8 months

This is utterly despicable, @digi_hammurabi .

Megan Lewis

@digi_hammurabi

8 months

HAPS summer grants are now open for 2024!

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

There is almost no overlap between the people who have been interacting with my posts this past week and those who have interacted with my previous posts on ancient Judaism. Apparently colleagues interested in long-dead ancient Jews have zero interest in us live Jews.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

11 months

Hannukah is a minor Jewish holiday. But if my hypothesis is correct, and the emergence of Judaism is to be credited to the Hasmonean’s adoption of Torah as law of the land, then perhaps Hannukah should be regarded as more meaningful than we usually think. Happy Hannukah to all!🕎

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

6 months

Ever since I began translating Tractate Miqva’ot for the new Oxford Annotated Mishnah, I stopped using the term “miqveh”/”miqva’ot” when writing and speaking about the ancient stepped pools we unearth through archaeology. I now think that this term is inaccurate. A short🧵 1/8

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

19 days

...a word that does not exist in Hebrew. There is no word for "religion" anywhere in the Hebrew Bible or any other Jewish literature from ancient times, through the Middle Ages, until the 19th century.

Samuel Perry

@profsamperry

19 days

Finsh this sentence. Religion is...

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

The IAA and the Israeli Ministry of Heritage have invited the media to attend an event on Wednesday, September 6, where "an impressive, important and rare find from the Judean Desert Caves" will be revealed. Stay tuned... HT Joseph Lauer

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 years

This just in from @yalepress : "I am happy to share that books have just arrived at our warehouse and have begun to ship". Some of you will get your copies before I do (here in Israel). If you do, please let me know how it looks! 🙏

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

Thank you SBL council.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

It's been a year since 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘮 was published. Post Oct. 7, I’d like to discuss a topical matter that I left out of the book: how the hypothesis of a Persian-era emergence of Judaism is deeply indebted to various strains of antisemitism. A🧵 1/16

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

8 months

Traditionally, Jewish scholars have been known by the title of the most outstanding book they've authored. Think: "the Hafetz Hayim" and "the Hazon Ish". One has to wonder, then, what the late Prof. Aharon Oppenheimer was thinking when he gave his 1977 book this title:

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

The time has come to choose which side of history each and every one of us wishes to stand. A letter of petition to the council of the Society of Biblical Literature @SBLsite :

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

THE IMPERIAL CULT MEETS JUDAISM What are Jewish ritual immersion pools doing adjacent to the Augusteum (temple dedicated to the cult of #Augustus ) at Samaria-Sebaste? The 18-month embargo on this article is over today, so I’ve posted it here: A 🧵 1/10

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

Last week: the worst day of Jew-killing since the Holocaust. Today: blood libels. As we contiue to bury our dead. It hurts me deeply that people who I thought were my colleagues and friends are now participating in this festival of evil. The field will never be the same.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

Can a deeply religious Christian or Jewish scholar engage in sound archaeological/historical research which relates in one way or another to the Bible? My answer is a resolute “YES!” So long as there is no conflict between the scholar’s beliefs and the subject of the study. 🧵1/9

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

If my colleagues’ critical thinking skills are so fundamentally broken that today they believed and further propagated a 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙗𝙚𝙡 spread by terrorist monsters—how can I ever again take seriously any of their historical “scholarship” about the past?

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 months

My review in 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘻𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘨 (𝘛𝘩𝘓𝘡) 149.9 (2024):

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

27 days

The full article is now online. It is open access, so feel free to download and share!

Toward Identifying Proto-Judaic Cultural Features in Ancient Israel and Judea

The present article examines methodological prospects and pitfalls we face in identifying specific practices prescribed in the Pentateuch and that were adopted as elements within Judaism, which have...

www.academia.edu

Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 months

This new article (now in proofs stage) is something of a 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗹 to my book, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘮 (Yale 2022). I’ll share a brief summary in a 🧵 here. The full article should be online (for free—open access) quite soon! 1/14

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

11 months

A bit more context for this: Mr. Varadkar is the Prime Minister of Ireland. Emily is a 9-year-old Irish citizen. She was thought murdered, but miraculously survived the massacre, and was kipnapped by terrorists. Why the bizarre and grotesque choice of words? Emily is Jewish.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 years

Judaism itself.

Yair Menchel

@yairmenchel

2 years

If a Jew from 2,500 years ago experienced a day of Judaism in 2023, what are some things that would be surprising to them? 1. No korbanot 2. Printed Jewish texts 3. Moshiach hasn't come What's one more you would add?

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

6 months

This is the reverse of a coin minted by Alexander Jannaeus (103–76 BCE). Until 1968, it was thought that the legend is in Hebrew, written in paleo-Hebrew script. But because the legend could not be deciphered, coins of this type were regarded as “wretched” or “imitations”. 🧵1/4

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

8 months

Early Judaism is my thing. It is all that I think and write about. Terms like "grace", "works" and "better" are completely foreign to my thought and language. Scholars who employ this jargon are doing Christian theology—not the history of ancient Judaism.

Michael F. Bird

@mbird12

8 months

Great work here by Matt Novenson. Sanders, for all his claims to merely be comparing patterns of religions, was still operating on the assumption that a religion of grace was better than one of works!

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 years

When Did Jews Start Observing Torah? This just out, at:

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

—𝗬𝗼𝗺 𝗞𝗶𝗽𝗽𝘂𝗿— The holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Commemorated even by many "non-observant" Jews, through fasting and extensive penitential prayers. But it wasn’t always this way. And this text from the Dead Sea Scrolls may be our earliest evidence for it. A🧵1/15

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 months

I cannot fathom what is driving the deafening silence of my colleagues to the intimidation, harassment and threats to Jewish students. This is happening on your very own campuses. This is happening today. Why do you refuse to make your voices heard?

AG

@AGHamilton29

2 months

Signs at Columbia and Hunter College this week have also targeted Hillel, a Jewish campus community org, with violent threats.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

9 months

I was teaching today about Herod's penchant for murdering his own sons. Except that instead of "sons", I inadvertently said "students".

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

5 months

In honor of Shavuot, which begins tonight, I offer an exegetical take on a famous Monty Python scene. A group of Judeans stands at a distance from a man teaching from atop a mountain, too far to hear clearly. “What did he say?” “I think it was: ‘Blessed are the cheesemakers”! 1/9

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

3 months

🚨Calling all colleagues🚨 Planning an online course now—focused on Early Judaism. It'll be rich in original, on-site archaeological video and more. I'm thinking about various models of collaboration with universities and other bodies. Let me know if you might be interested.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 months

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝘄𝘀 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 There seems to be a lot of confusion out there about how the Jewish purity laws are observed today. So I thought I'd post a short 🧵 on the topic. Here goes... 1/15

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

13 days

—The Jerusalem Temple Willow-Branch Ritual — With the holiday of Sukkot coming up, I thought I’d post about the willow-branch ritual which took place in the Jerusalem temple and which I believe is depicted on coins minted during the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE). 🧵1/17

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

11 months

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

16 days

—Kol Nidrei— It is perhaps the most iconic parts of the Yom Kippur service, often moving congregants to tears. The words themselves, however—in stilted Aramaic and which most people don’t understand—are quite banal. So what is its secret? 🧵1/8

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

8 months

Future historians will have a field day studying how scholars of Judaism—ancient, medieval and modern—dealt in real time with the worst global wave of Jew-hatred since the Holocaust. Twitter timelines will be a crucial primary source. Silence cannot be edited out.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

50% discount off 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘮, with free shipping! Visit: After clicking on "Buy", click "Add Coupon" and use discount code: Y23SUMMER Sale ends June 23 (Valid in US & Canada) 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁!

Yale University Press

@yalepress

1 year

Our 50% off sale begins today!☀️ Use discount code Y23SUMMER via our online shopping cart through June 23, 2023. Restrictions apply. Valid in the U.S./Canada. Visit to learn more.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

9 months

Official publication date of the paperback version is today. The hardcover is out of stock @yalepress , but still available (at the moment for a 22% discount I can see) over @amazon :

The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference...

The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library)

www.amazon.com

Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

9 months

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙅𝙪𝙙𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙢 Now out in paperback. The release date is February 13, but books have aleady arrived in the warehouse @yalepress .

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

And... a stash of ancient Roman swords it is! Discovered by our very own @AsafGayer . Perhaps 1st or 2nd century CE. The story just broke with @nirhasson in @haaretzcom : (Condolences to all those who were hoping for a new text...)

Four Roman swords in almost perfect condition found in cave near Dead Sea

***

www.haaretz.com

Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

The IAA and the Israeli Ministry of Heritage have invited the media to attend an event on Wednesday, September 6, where "an impressive, important and rare find from the Judean Desert Caves" will be revealed. Stay tuned... HT Joseph Lauer

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 months

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝘄𝘀 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 —Part II— In my previous post, I explained how the Jewish purity laws are, for all intents and purposes, no longer kept today. Why did Jews cease to observe an entire section of Torah law? A new 🧵 1/14

Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 months

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝘄𝘀 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 There seems to be a lot of confusion out there about how the Jewish purity laws are observed today. So I thought I'd post a short 🧵 on the topic. Here goes... 1/15

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

How old Is Judaism? The answer might be younger than you think via @JewishChron

How old Is Judaism? The answer might be younger than you think

A new book argues the Torah may not have been widely recognised until the days of the Maccabees

www.thejc.com

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 years

In reading the accounts of the crucifixion in the Synoptic Gospels, it struck me that throughout the New Testament we find references to Jews observing the laws of the Torah. Something which, ironically, we do not find in the Hebrew Bible. A short🧵1/3

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

I'll be speaking @lunduniversity tomorrow, should anyone be in the neighborhood.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

3 months

This evening marks the start of the 9th of Av, a fast day commemorating the destruction of the Jerusalem temples in 586 BCE and 70 CE. It is the only day of the year when Torah study is forbidden, as study brings joy. Only sad texts, like Job, Lamentations, and parts of... 🧵1/2

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

The preservation of these swords is astonishing: via @YouTube Blades, handles and scabbards. The Judean Desert caves are the gift that apparently just keeps giving. Kudos to @AsafGayer and to the rest of the team!

A rare cache of weapons from the Roman period found stashed away in a...

A sensational find in the Judean Desert: a cache of four 1,900-year-old, excellently preserved Roman swords and a shafted weapon were discovered in a crevice...

www.youtube.com

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

10 months

My article entitled: “Jewish Ritual Immersion in the Longue Durée: From Earliest Manifestations until Today” has now been published in ‘Atiqot. It is available for free here:

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

3 months

I recently had a thoroughly enjoyable discussion about 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘮 with Neal Sendlak over at Gnostic Informant. The video (close to 2 and a half hours!) has just been posted on YouTube:

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

5 months

◼️𝗔𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸◼️ Our new study—published today in PLOS ONE—uses multispectral imaging, Raman spectroscopy, FTIR-ATR and SEM/EDX, to examine ancient tefillin cases for traces of black dye or paint. 🧵1/14

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

3 months

𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘶𝘥𝘢 𝘥𝘦-𝘌𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘻 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭: 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦, ed. S. Fine and A. Koller (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014) is now open access: For a more convenient PDF... 1/2

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

6 months

There is now a 50% off sale on Yale University Press books, including my 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙅𝙪𝙙𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙢. The paperback now sells for $14 Shipping is free. Use coupon code: Y24SAVE50 Sale is until May 17, and applies only in the USA and Canada.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 months

Question for scholars of the Hebrew Bible: Why are the narratives surrounding Josiah’s “reforms” accepted as more-or-less historically accurate? Why not suspect that these stories reflect the interests of much later writers? Would love if someone could steelman this for me.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 months

The most brilliant lecture on Maimonides I ever heard was given by Prof. Shamma Friedman in Oxford in 2011. He explained how one word Maimonides deleted from his autograph of Mishneh Torah shows how he changed his mind—and described both sides of the halakhic matter at hand.

Dr. Nick Posegay

@NPosegay

2 months

This is an autograph draft of the 'Mishneh Torah' in the hand of its author, Moses Maimonides. The text is Hebrew, but a later hand (or Maimonides?) added Arabic in the margin. It's in a collection that was once nearly burned to save space. It's also in our new book (link in bio)

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

This is my grandma. Under the Nazis, “race science” was taught in the schools. In an act of resistance, her teacher chose her—the blond, blue-eyed Jewish girl—to stand before her class as the model “Aryan”. We need brave people like this today. The time to prove ourselves is now.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 month

Emanuel Tov's dedication page in his 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘴 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵 (Leiden: Brill, 2004).

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

5 months

This.

Hussein Aboubakr Mansour

@HusseinAboubak

5 months

C.S. Lewis

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

Why did the Pentateuchal authors write the laws of the Torah? What were their motives? Here are some initial thoughts (following yesterday’s tweet and dialogue about the festivals). I am looking for colleagues’ input, and especially references to others’ work on this. A 🧵 1/13

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

7 months

Judaism. (It 𝗶𝘀 in the New Testament, if that happens to be in your Bible).

Christian Memes and Puns

@ChristianPunsOG

7 months

👀

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

8 months

This was an excellent essay by @AnnetteYReed . I find it fascinating that Sanders' work has been revolutionary for NT scholars. Personally, having emerged from a very different intellectual and cultural milieu, I found Sanders' "novel" ideas almost self evident. 1/2

Ancient Jew Review

@ancientjew

8 months

E. P. Sanders and His Impact on the Study of Second Temple Judaism by Annette Yoshiko Reed.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

Coins from the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome (66–73/4 CE) found in modern-day Georgia (the country!) would add to a growing list of Roman military sites around the empire where coins from the two Jewish revolts have been uncovered. A short 🧵 1/4

Ancient coins of Jewish rebels from Roman period found in Georgia

Researchers have found that some of the coins, depicting pomegranates and Jewish goblets, were minted by Jewish rebels, which the Romans continued to use even decades later

www.ynetnews.com

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

🚨Hebrew Bible scholars🚨 Why do we think the 3 pilgrimage festivals were commonly celebrated in ancient Israel as agricultural festivals 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 being legislated in Pentateuchal texts? Is there any evidence for this, or is it just that they “feel” folkish & archaic?

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

7 months

🙃 lᴉʌǝ ɹǝʌo pooƃ ɟo uoᴉsɹǝʌuᴉ ǝɥʇ ǝʇɐɹqǝlǝɔ oɥʍ llɐ oʇ ɯᴉɹnԀ ʎddɐH

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

10 months

Going through papers in my office, I just discovered this thick stack of mail correspondence I had back in 1992 with scholars in the USA, Europe, and Israel in pursuing my research on identifying the mollusc used in the ancient tekhelet dye. I was 16 years old at the time. 1/2

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

11 months

This summarizes everything I’ve been posting here since Oct 7. Many of my colleagues view events—past and present—through the lens: “Jews are a nasty lot”. It is this (often unconscious) bias which leads to blaming the Jews as a knee-jerk reaction. Antisemitism distilled. 1/11🧵

Eylon Levy

@EylonALevy

11 months

The first question that left me speechless (but only for a second):

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

🚨Archbishop of Canterbury: Accusing Israel of Hospital Blast is ‘Blood Libel’ Good to see a modicum of moral clarity here. Still waiting for my colleagues to acknowledge their very own participation in propagating this abhorrent form of Jew hatred.

Archbishop of Canterbury: Accusing Israel of hospital blast is ‘blood libel’

Speaking in Jerusalem to families of killed and kidnapped, Justin Welby says no evidence of Israeli complicity in deadly explosion at Anglican hospital

www.timesofisrael.com

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

6 days

A new edition of the Hebrew Bible has recently been published by Avi Shveka. Its novelty lies in its modern punctuation, ignoring the standard verse and chapter format—which lends itself to some novel interpretations. Interesting. For a sample, check out:

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

To be fair, Jews in 4th century BCE Jerusalem did include Athena and her owl on their coins. But already by the middle of the 2nd century BCE, this would have been a big no-no...

The Hellenist ☀️

@The_Hellenist

1 year

Christians should consider adding just one Greek God to their prayer, Athena perhaps. Buy a statue of Athena and offer sacrifice to Her. You will be rewarded with unimaginable treasures.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

— 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗺— Today ends a 12-month embargo on the preliminary report for our excavations at ‘Einot Amitai. I’ve just uploaded the full article (co-authored with Dennis Mizzi) here: A short 🧵on the project 1/9

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

3 months

Were the Biblical Authors “Elites”? Were Biblical writers influential, elite members of the societies within which they lived and wrote? Did ordinary people living in their day know who these authors were, and would they have paid attention to what they had to say? 🧵1/6

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 month

I would have loved joing this organized trip to "the State of the Lebanon", "the Alawite State", and the "the State of Syria". Packed with archaeology and history. The bus left from Jerusalem, with stops in Haifa and Rosh Haniqra. Hopefully, one day soon, such tours will return.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

11 months

I have felt sick to the stomach since watching this three minute clip this morning. These are the leaders of our top universities in 2023. Where do we go from here?

Rep. Elise Stefanik

@RepStefanik

11 months

🚨🚨🚨Presidents of @Harvard @MIT and @Penn REFUSE to say whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” is bullying and harassment according to their codes of conduct. Even going so far to say it needs to turn to “action” first. As in committing genocide. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE AND

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

This “Open Letter from Scholars of Antiquity” in support of Israel was just published. Reading the list of signees, my eyes landed on the name of one fellow archaeologist—an extraordinarily significant name: Prof. Dr. Ricardo Eichmann, Berlin.

Offener Brief Unser Standpunkt Stand: 26. Apr. 2024 Open Letter Our Position State: 26 Apr 2024

Eine Solidaritätserklärung von Altertumswissenschaftler*innen mit Israel. A letter of solidarity with Israel from scholars of Antiquity.

www.academia.edu

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

It is common for epigraphers to squabble over a letter here, a word there. It is highly unusual for scholars to question whether any inscription is even there in the first place. I can think of only 4 examples, all involving the same scholar. And all in the last year. 🤔 #MtEbal

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

6 months

PSA for those in need. You know how when you are typing a document in Microsoft Word and you've got a section title which appears at the bottom of one page, with the text body underneath appearing only on the next page? Super annoying right? Well there is a solution. ☝️🙂 1/4

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

4 months

"An Egyptian Deity in Persian Period Judea? On a Locally-Made Bes Vessel from Jerusalem". A new study by L. Rees, Y. Shalev, A. Cohen-Weinberger & Y. Gadot (in Eretz-Israel 35) which raises interesting questions about cultic practices and beliefs in Persian period Jerusalem.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

10 months

To all my Christian brothers and sisters who have stood at our side during these very dark times: Thank you. Your humanity and support have been crucial to us, both as individuals and as a people. A very merry Christmas to you and to all your loved ones.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 years

Such stories of ordinary Judeans or Israelites observing Sabbath prohibitions are completely absent from the Hebrew Bible (outside of the Pentateuch). There is Judaism in the New Testament but not the Hebrew Bible. How Ironic! 3/3

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 months

I question whether this question ever crossed the minds of most ancients. These were simply “the stories we tell about the past”. I can think of only one example where ancient rabbis discussed whether a Biblical figure (Job) was “real” or only a “metaphor” (BT Bava Batra 15a).

Nathan Steinmeyer

@InDaWilderness

2 months

Question for Assyriologists, Biblical Scholars, and the like: would ancient people have "beleived" their own myths? Creation myths for example. I've seen claims ancients would have obviously understood they wasn't meant to be "true." That seems counter intuitive to me...

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

9 months

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙅𝙪𝙙𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙢 Now out in paperback. The release date is February 13, but books have aleady arrived in the warehouse @yalepress .

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

There will be a book review panel for 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘮 at this year's SBL. I am delighted that @ProfFrancesca , @Malka_Simkovich , Dennis Mizzi, and Benjamin Wright will be participating. @LXXandmore was scheduled to join. He will be sorely missed.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

4 months

On Eid al-Adha, I am reminded of when the holiday fell during our summer excavation seasons at ‘Einot Amitai. Jewish, Muslim, and Christian students and volunteers excavating together an ancient Jewish chalk vessel workshop in Galilee and learning about ritual purity halakhah.❤️

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

11 months

No. Wrong. Very, very wrong Prof. Bessner.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

Considering historic, centuries-old, systemic antisemitism in Biblical studies, do we as Biblical scholars have a moral obligation to stand up against antisemitism—especially at a time when it runs rampant throughout the world, including on our own university campuses?

Dan McClellan

@maklelan

1 year

Biblical studies friends! I am working with some data folks to put together a survey on the state of the biblical studies field. The goal is to see where scholars stand on a bunch of perennial issues. What questions would you want to see included?

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

6 months

Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) begins tonight. I am fortunate to be alive today. 💔

Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

This is my grandma. Under the Nazis, “race science” was taught in the schools. In an act of resistance, her teacher chose her—the blond, blue-eyed Jewish girl—to stand before her class as the model “Aryan”. We need brave people like this today. The time to prove ourselves is now.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

11 months

@halfofmw To be fair, there actually IS an ancient synagogue in Gaza. It was unearthed in 1966, and features a mosaic with David playing the lyre - and a Hebrew inscription reading: "דויד (David)". A Greek inscription dates it to 508/9 CE.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

11 months

This just out, anticipating the publication of three papers soon to be published in the Israel Exploration Journal (Vol 73/2). I look forward to reading these papers themselves, although it seems like they'll say what we all already knew. 1/4

New studies debunk controversial biblical ‘curse tablet’ from Mt. Ebal

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www.haaretz.com

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

If you are a Bible/Early Judaism scholar, and if all that you’ve posted, reposted or liked here with regard to Israel over the last two weeks has been critique of Israel... then I’d really love to know exactly what it is that makes you tick. I welcome your replies.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 years

I have been recognized. I was at a train station in Israel today, when a young lady came over to me looking a bit starstruck. “Excuse me… are you... Prof. Adler”? Turns out she’s seen several of the interviews I’ve done lately, and is “a huge fan”! 🤩

When did Judaism begin? Prof. Yonatan Adler - The Origins of Judaism...

"When did Judaism begin?" is not a naive question. Every answer to this question would require presenting an acceptable definition of Judaism. Not an easy ta...

www.youtube.com

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

…we are cautioned to recognize unscientific constructs which all too often undergird the study of early Judaism. Now more than ever, we must take a firm stand against anti-Jewish sentiments in the field. Antisemitism in Biblical and Jewish studies must never be tolerated. 16/16

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

First recorded evidence of Yom Kippur depicts day of affliction as sectarian struggle via @timesofisrael

First recorded evidence of Yom Kippur depicts day of affliction as sectarian struggle

Prof. Yonatan Adler, author of 'The Origins of Judaism,' cites dramatic passage from the Dead Sea Scrolls that shows Hasmonean-era jostling for religious authority

www.timesofisrael.com

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

7 months

I’ve been reading about how the date for Easter is calculated. Looks a whole lot like Judaism's complex calendrical halakhah. Quite "legalistic". Sincere (if perhaps naive) question here: How do Easter calculations square with the Christian critique against "legalism"?

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

4 months

On the Terms “Qəlāf”, “Dûkhsûsṭôs”, and “Gəwîl” in the Tannaitic Literature in Light of Microscopic and Spectroscopic Analyses of Ancient Tefillin, Mezuzot, and Scrolls from the Judean Desert Proofs. Should be out in the coming weeks.

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

1 year

Today wrapped up our second week of archaeological fieldwork at this beautiful site, in the hills west of Jerusalem. Seeking answers to research questions still left open in the conclusions of my book. Covered in dirt and scarred everywhere from the thorns. But very satisfied.🙂

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

5 months

I just listened to this superb interview @gbarnea did with @Gnosticinforman . I recommend listening to the entire episode. I especially enjoyed Gad's take on the persistence of Yahwism (not mediated through Judaism or Christianity) well into the first millenium CE... 1/2

Gad Barnea

@gbarnea

5 months

I had a great time sharing my research with Neal ( @Gnosticinforman ) in what turned out to be a very lengthy, enjoyable, and lively discussion... Neal also did an **outstanding** job editing this video! It is now on YouTube. I understand that a sensational(ist) title is needed

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

9 months

Reading Targum Onkelos to Genesis with parallel Hebrew read TWICE of course! (Isn't this obvious?)

Timothy A. Lee Publishing

@TimothyALeePub

9 months

What better way to prepare for a reading group on the Genesis Apocryphon than refreshing my Aramaic by reading Targum Onkelos to Genesis with parallel Hebrew!

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

11 days

Last seen 80,000 years ago... by the Neanderthals! ברוך שכֹּחו וגבורתו מלא עולם ☄️ #comet #C2023A3 #TsuchinshanATLAS

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Yonatan Adler

@AdlerYonatan

2 years

I have been arguing this for over a decade. Nobody seems particularly interested in listening to me about this. Jews observed the purity laws in thier daily lives because these laws appear in the Torah. Full stop. Nothing to do with the temple.

Logan Williams

@lllogannnnn

2 years

Currently trying to argue that nobody in the second temple period tried to expand temple purity practices to the public like

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