Listen to David Hartman speech at Weizmann Institute

As reported earlier (see post below, and see here), Hartman Institute Co-Director David Hartman received an honorary doctorate from Weizmann Institute in Rehovot earlier this week. Here’s the wording used to describe his Doctor of Philosophy Honoris Causa in recognition:

Of his life’s work to revitalize Judaism and strengthen Jewish identity among Jews the world over, particularly the youth, a mission he has persistently pursued through his endeavors as an internationally renowned philosopher, author and gifted educator;

Of his outstanding contributions to Israeli society and world Jewry through the Shalom Hartman Institute, which he has led for more than three decades to an eminent position at the forefront of Jewish thought and Jewish education;

Above all, of his gift of vision and action, faith and scholarship toward building a more pluralistic, tolerant and enlightened Israeli society.

Click below to listen to an edited version (10 minutes) of the awards ceremony, including Rabbi Hartman’s address to the audience.

David Hartman Speech at Weizmann Institute, Nov. 17, 2008

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More on ‘Messiah Stone’ in Biblical Archaeology mag

Israel Knohl tells us his latest in-depth article about the “Messiah Stone” and its translation is available in the new issue of Biblical Archaeology Review (It’s the cover article for you print types).

What Israel tells us is also new is written confirmation by prominent archeological scholar Ada Yardeni, “premier expert of the script of that period, where she accepts my reading of the crucial words IN THREE DAYS, LIVE.”

Those four words provide the basis for the thesis that ties in Jewish prophecy of the day with the origins of the Christian Jesus.

For a lot more from Knohl, including his translation, click here. One more thing…

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‘Messiah stone’ a rock of ages for today, as well

Interest in the so-called “Messiah stone” and the innovative and provocative translation of it by Shalom Hartman Institute Senior Fellow Israel Knohl continues unabated. The Jerusalem Report now wades into the fray with a typically lengthy but thorough piece on the cover of its latest issue. The piece rambles on about the Dead Sea Scrolls for a while before getting to Knohl and the Dead Sea stone, but gives him ample time to explain his theory:

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Hartman’s Israel Knohl in the news for pre-Jesus Jewish tablet

Israel Knohl, Senior Fellow, Shalom Hartman Institute

Shalom Hartman Institute Senior Fellow Israel Knohl is in the news – in a big way – as the New York Times has covered the so-called “Gabriel’s Vision” stone tablet, a sort of “Dead Sea Scroll on stone” from Second Temple days that suggests a Jewish myth/story/prediction of a messiah who would rise from the dead after three days.

(Haaretz picked up the story a day after it ran in the Times, and done its own interview Knohl. See it here in Hebrew and here in English.)

The Times story has brought a huge amount of attention to Knohl – it’s the most emailed and blogged article on the Times website right now – and the Institute website is really the only online location for Knohl’s original article.

There are many controversial aspects to this matter. One is Knohl’s reading translation of the degraded text on the stone, and the other is the interpretation he give it, which is that Jewish mythology/belief of the Second Temple era included a messiah who rises from the dead after three days and whose blood purifies the people.

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