Monthly Archives: March 2016

#42—The rabbis and the rain, with Julia Watts Belser [MIPodcast]

Julia Watts Belser, Podcast

In the land of Israel, rain falls during a single, crucial, season of the year beginning in October or November and continuing through the spring. Lives depended on successful harvests which depended on healthy rainfall. According to the Hebrew scriptures, weather proved God’s blessing or cursing the people of Israel:

From the rain of the heavens, you will drink water—
a land that the Lord your God seeks out perpetually;
the eyes of the Lord your God are upon it
from the year’s beginning to the year’s end. 

If you heed My commands with which I charge you today
to love the Lord your God
and to worship Him with all your heart and with all your being
I will give the rain of your land in its season, early rains and late,
and you shall gather in your grain and your wine and your oil.
And I will give grass in the field to your herds,
and you shall eat and be satisfied.
(Deuteronomy 11.11–15, trans. Robert Alter)

In this episode, Julia Watts Belser talks about how rain permeates some of the earliest rabbinic texts. Surprisingly, many rabbis challenged Deuteronomy’s depiction of rain as a sign of divine favor versus drought as a sign of divine displeasure. Her new book from Cambridge University Press is called Power, Ethics, and Ecology in Jewish Late Antiquity.

About Julia Watts Belser

Julia Watts Belser is Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies in the Department of Theology at Georgetown University. She is also an ordained rabbi. Her articles have appeared in places like the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, and the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics. Her new book is called Power, Ethics, and Ecology in Jewish Late Antiquity: Rabbinic Responses to Drought and Disaster (Cambridge University Press).

The post #42—The rabbis and the rain, with Julia Watts Belser [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

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#41—The First Fifty Years of Relief Society, with Jill Mulvay Derr, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew Grow (2 of 2) [MIPodcast]

Podcast, Relief Society

In the last episode we heard from three editors of a new book of Relief Society documents published by the LDS Church. Jill Mulvay Derr, Kate Holbrook, and Matt Grow talked about the origins of the Relief Society and why its activities were suspended in 1844. Today is the Relief Society’s 174th anniversary.

In this episode we pick up where we left off as the Latter-day Saints begin to reestablish relief society in the Utah territory. You’ll hear about issues like polygamy and women’s suffrage. We also discuss the kind of impact the editors hope the book can have on how Mormons understand their history. We’re talking about The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History.

Introductory matter and other material from the book is currently available at churchhistorianspress.org.

About the Guests

Jill Mulvay Derr is a retired senior research historian for the Church History Department.

Kate Holbrook is a specialist in women’s history at the Church History Department.

Matthew J. Grow is director of publications at the Church History Department.

Together with Carol Cornwall Madsen they edited The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in LDS Women’s History. (Photos courtesy of Steve Griffin, Salt Lake Tribune.)

The post #41—The First Fifty Years of Relief Society, with Jill Mulvay Derr, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew Grow (2 of 2) [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

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#40—The First Fifty Years of Relief Society, with Jill Mulvay Derr, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew Grow (1 of 2) [MIPodcast]

Podcast, Relief Society

The Church Historian’s Press just released a landmark book of documents all about the Relief Society, the women’s organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was organized in 1842 with high hopes for benevolent service and holiness, and it was suspended in 1844 in the midst of conflict and controversy. Thursday, March 17 marks the 174th anniversary of the founding of the Relief Society.

In part one of this special two-part interview with three of the volume’s editors, we talk about the origins of the Relief Society and the founding documents that helped ensure its lasting legacy. Their book is called The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in LDS Women’s History.

Introductory matter and other material from the book is currently available at churchhistorianspress.org.

Part two of this episode will be available on Thursday, March 17.

About the Guests

Jill Mulvay Derr is a retired senior research historian for the Church History Department.

Kate Holbrook is a specialist in women’s history at the Church History Department.

Matthew J. Grow is director of publications at the Church History Department.

Together with Carol Cornwall Madsen they edited The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in LDS Women’s History. (Photos courtesy of Steve Griffin, Salt Lake Tribune.)

The post #40—The First Fifty Years of Relief Society, with Jill Mulvay Derr, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew Grow (1 of 2) [MIPodcast] appeared first on Neal A. Maxwell Institute | BYU.

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