Dr. A.J. Berkovitz is a scholar of Antiquity who writes about Jewish texts, traditions, and history from their origins through the rise of Islam. He received his Ph.D. in Religions of Mediterranean Antiquity from Princeton University and was a Starr Fellow at Harvard University. His most recent book, A Life of Psalms in Jewish Late Antiquity (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023) received awards from the Association for Jewish Studies and the American Academy of Jewish Research. He is the co-editor of Rethinking ‘Authority’ in Late Antiquity: Authorship, Law, and Transmission in Jewish and Christian Tradition (Routledge, 2018) and the author of numerous academic articles. His public writings also appear in Tablet, Lehrhaus, Arcmag.org, and the Jewish Review of Books. He teaches at HUC-JIR in NYC.
Last Updated
December 25, 2024
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The medieval Scroll of Antiochus does more than enrich Chanukah with details. It models the holiday after Purim by telling the story in the biblical language and idiom of Daniel, Ezra, and Esther.
The medieval Scroll of Antiochus does more than enrich Chanukah with details. It models the holiday after Purim by telling the story in the biblical language and idiom of Daniel, Ezra, and Esther.
The manner in which Haman’s execution was depicted had real world consequences.
The manner in which Haman’s execution was depicted had real world consequences.
A midrash imagines Queen Esther reciting Psalm 22 the moment she was about to enter Ahasuerus' inner court. Are the rabbis responding to the Passion Narrative, in which Jesus, in his final moments, recites this lament on the cross?
A midrash imagines Queen Esther reciting Psalm 22 the moment she was about to enter Ahasuerus' inner court. Are the rabbis responding to the Passion Narrative, in which Jesus, in his final moments, recites this lament on the cross?
In late antiquity and medieval times, the reading of the Torah and haftara was often accompanied with an Aramaic translation and Aramaic poems. Akdamut Milin and Yatziv Pitgam are the remnants of a once vibrant collection of Shavuot poems, some of which connect specific laws of the Decalogue with biblical stories, while others dramatized the revelation at Sinai with tales of Moses’ experiences in heaven.
In late antiquity and medieval times, the reading of the Torah and haftara was often accompanied with an Aramaic translation and Aramaic poems. Akdamut Milin and Yatziv Pitgam are the remnants of a once vibrant collection of Shavuot poems, some of which connect specific laws of the Decalogue with biblical stories, while others dramatized the revelation at Sinai with tales of Moses’ experiences in heaven.
