Comments on: Alumni Group Seeks to Deny Tenure to Middle Eastern Scholar at Barnard http://janip.net/alumni-group-seeks-to-deny-tenure-to-middle-eastern-scholar-at-barnard/ Jewish Academic Network for Israeli-Palestinian Peace Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:34:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 by: Gerda Elata-Alster http://janip.net/alumni-group-seeks-to-deny-tenure-to-middle-eastern-scholar-at-barnard/#comment-822 Thu, 16 Aug 2007 09:13:04 +0000 http://janip.net/alumni-group-seeks-to-deny-tenure-to-middle-eastern-scholar-at-barnard/#comment-822 Salbe, Feldman, Finkelstein seem not to be aware that since the heydays of Higher Bible Criticism in the 19th century (Wellhausen, Delitzsch, etc.) meant to discredit Judaism by discrediting the credibility of the Biblical tradition, scholarship has separated the 2 in favor of a cultural, anthropological approach, which reads the Bible and Rabbinic text in terms of their historical and cultural effects in the world at large and as the canonical formative narrative of the Jewish people in particular. The historical 'truth' of the biblical account is immaterial to these effects, which are alive and valid in Western thought, literature, art, and many other manifestations of human enterprise. Why can't you see, Prof. Finkelstein and others, that your 'truth' can easily co-exist with mine. Reducing mine to yours would require undoing most of Western culture. Ready for that? Gerda Salbe, Feldman, Finkelstein seem not to be aware that since the heydays of Higher Bible Criticism in the 19th century (Wellhausen, Delitzsch, etc.) meant to discredit Judaism by discrediting the credibility of the Biblical tradition, scholarship has separated the 2 in favor of a cultural, anthropological approach, which reads the Bible and Rabbinic text in terms of their historical and cultural effects in the world at large and as the canonical formative narrative of the Jewish people in particular. The historical ‘truth’ of the biblical account is immaterial to these effects, which are alive and valid in Western thought, literature, art, and many other manifestations of human enterprise.

Why can’t you see, Prof. Finkelstein and others, that your ‘truth’ can easily co-exist with mine. Reducing mine to yours would require undoing most of Western culture. Ready for that?

Gerda

]]> by: Richard Silverstein http://janip.net/alumni-group-seeks-to-deny-tenure-to-middle-eastern-scholar-at-barnard/#comment-820 Thu, 16 Aug 2007 06:42:27 +0000 http://janip.net/alumni-group-seeks-to-deny-tenure-to-middle-eastern-scholar-at-barnard/#comment-820 I'm disappointed with the JTA article which seems to breathlessly accept the premises of the campaign to deny al Haj tenure as well as the premises of those on the right who campaign against Columbia's Arab professors. Does Jewish journalism have to be so parochial?? I’m disappointed with the JTA article which seems to breathlessly accept the premises of the campaign to deny al Haj tenure as well as the premises of those on the right who campaign against Columbia’s Arab professors.

Does Jewish journalism have to be so parochial??

]]> by: Sol Salbe http://janip.net/alumni-group-seeks-to-deny-tenure-to-middle-eastern-scholar-at-barnard/#comment-817 Wed, 15 Aug 2007 22:45:34 +0000 http://janip.net/alumni-group-seeks-to-deny-tenure-to-middle-eastern-scholar-at-barnard/#comment-817 Perhaps those interested in the merits of the case ought to consider the fact that Nadia Abu El-Haj’s central thesis fits in very well with a recent book by a pair of Israeli “New (ancient) Historians”. As Maya Feldman described in Ynetnews: ‘In their popular book The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, archeologists Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman refuted the biblical portrayal of the exodus from Egypt. ‘In their new book David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition, they have some surprising things to say about two key biblical figures, David and Solomon. ‘Professor Finkelstein believes that there is a “growing and intolerable gap between what is taking place in archeology today and what the public knows.”’ Maya Feldman’s article can be found at http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3317069,00.html I thoroughly recommend it. Sol Salbe Melbourne Australia Perhaps those interested in the merits of the case ought to consider the fact that Nadia Abu El-Haj’s central thesis fits in very well with a recent book by a pair of Israeli “New (ancient) Historians”. As Maya Feldman described in Ynetnews:

‘In their popular book The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, archeologists Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman refuted the biblical portrayal of the exodus from Egypt.

‘In their new book David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible’s Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition, they have some surprising things to say about two key biblical figures, David and Solomon.

‘Professor Finkelstein believes that there is a “growing and intolerable gap between what is taking place in archeology today and what the public knows.”’

Maya Feldman’s article can be found at http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3317069,00.html

I thoroughly recommend it.

Sol Salbe
Melbourne Australia

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