Bock

Report from Camaldoli, Italy July 12

I am writing from Rome, having just attended the 4th Enoch Seminar in Camaldoli, Italy. Here 90 top scholars studied the books of Jubilees and Enoch intensively for 4 days. Most of the top scholars in Second Temple Judaism were there (from Ezra and Nehemiah until the fall fo that temple in AD 70). This is an expanding specialty and I got caught up with what is happening in this area. This is what profs do in the summer. This was a quite profitable time. Particularly interesting is how sime elements in Judaism worked witrh the Mosaic law and tried to standardize Judaism around a 364 day calendar, so that th eorder on earth matched that in heaven(that was the claim of Jubilees as it sought to tale the giving of the Law back to the partriarchs).

I am writing from Rome, having just attended the 4th Enoch Seminar in Camaldoli, Italy. Here 90 top scholars studied the books of Jubilees and Enoch intensively for 4 days. Most of the top scholars in Second Temple Judaism were there (from Ezra and Nehemiah until the fall fo that temple in AD 70). This is an expanding specialty and I got caught up with what is happening in this area. This is what profs do in the summer. This was a quite profitable time. Particularly interesting is how sime elements in Judaism worked witrh the Mosaic law and tried to standardize Judaism around a 364 day calendar, so that th eorder on earth matched that in heaven(that was the claim of Jubilees as it sought to tale the giving of the Law back to the partriarchs).

There is all kinds of discussion of proper terminology and relationships. But it also is a fascinating area of study. I will have more to say about this when I am not at an internet cafe filling you all in. In the meantime, arrivaderci.