In this series of classes, we’ll explore five often under-studied books of the Hebrew Bible, known as the Five Scrolls, or the Five Megillot—Esther, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, and Ecclesiastes. In Jewish tradition, each of these books is associated with a specific holiday, and we’ll study them at the appropriate time of year.

Alongside close reading of the texts themselves, we’ll examine their historical context, composition, and early reception, and consider how and why these works came to be read on particular holy days—and what that might mean for us as readers today.

 

Esther (Purim) — Sunday, February 22, 1:30–3:00pm
Song of Songs (Pesach) — Sunday, March 29, 1:30–3:00pm
Ruth (Shavuot) — Sunday, May 17, 1:30–3:00pm
Lamentations (Tisha B’Av) — Sunday, July 26, 1:30–3:00pm
Ecclesiastes (Sukkot) — Sunday, September 27, 1:30–3:00pm
All sessions will be in person in the beit midrash.

Daniel Picus is an Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and the Ancient World at Western Washington University. He holds a PhD in Religious Studies from Brown University, as well as a master’s degree from Oxford University. His scholarship focuses on the early history of rabbinic Judaism, with particular attention to how ancient Jews thought about, used, and interpreted the texts they inherited from earlier eras.