Andrew Tobolowsky: Judaism Unbound Episode 327 - The Myth of the 12 Tribes of Israel


Andrew Tobolowsky, author of a new book entitled The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, joins Dan and Lex to talk about what the Twelve Tribes of Israel myth is, and why it matters. They explore the ways in which groups have mobilized it -- all around the world -- for a few thousand years, and how that conversation across the millennia can help us better understand how people (and communities) continually construct and reinvent their identities.

[1] If you'd like to purchase The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, be sure to head to the Cambridge University Press website and enter the promo code TMTTI2022 at checkout, for a 20% discount!

[2] For a piece written in The Daily Beast about The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, see “Were There Actually 12 Tribes of Israel?” by Candida Moss. For a written piece that Tobolowsky wrote hiself about this book, see this recent contribution to Ancient Jew Review.

[3] Tobolowsky mentioned evolving ways in which scholars understand identity construction. For more on this, click here.

[4] Dan brings up the Merneptah Stele, an artifact from the 13th century BCE. Learn more about it vis its wikipedia page, accessible here.

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Liora Ostroff, Naomi Rose Weintraub: Judaism Unbound Episode 328 - Safety and Unsafety in Jewish Life

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Marques Hollie: Judaism Unbound Episode 326 - Whose Canon is it Anyway?