Course on origins of Hebrew Bible offered as part of 'Delve Deeper' program

PROVIDENCE — Mark Leuchter, professor of Hebrew Bible and ancient Judaism at Temple University in Philadelphia, will lead students through “The World Behind the Bible,” a 10-week course offered as part of the local Jewish community’s “Delve Deeper” program, starting Sept. 30 on Zoom.

In recent years, local students have expressed interest in the question of who wrote the Bible. Leuchter’s course will look at the way the Hebrew Bible came together across centuries of ideas and experiences from the social groups behind the texts.

Leuchter’s work and teaching focus on how the Bible’s texts have been inherited and the world that the Bible created.

Organizers say the class is timely and will help students understand the origins of the Hebrew Bible. With scholarly leadership from Leuchter, the class will explore historical texts to examine familiar motifs and tales such as creation, the Exodus, law, wisdom and sacrifice. Leuchter will also lead discussions on the role of cultural memory, social cognition, language and the function of media and art in the world at the time of the creation of these texts. The course will explore the relationship between the biblical authors’ literature and the communities they formed over countless generations. Leuchter will delineate the course contents, syllabus and reading assignments.

“The World Behind the Bible” will be offered via Zoom. The 10-week course will meet for two hours on Wednesday evenings, from 7 to 9 p.m. with a brief break after the first hour. The course will run from Sept. 30 to Dec. 9, with no class held Nov. 25, due to Thanksgiving.

Tuition is $250, but organizers emphasize that the cost should not be a barrier. Scholarships are available by contacting Larry Katz at larrykatz1221@gmail.com or a rabbi at a sponsoring synagogue. To learn more and to register, visit delvedeeper.org or teprov.org/delvedeeper/registration/Fall2026.html.

The Delve Deeper Program of Intensive Jewish Study, which began in 2017, is presented in cooperation with the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and area synagogues, including Congregation Beth Shalom, Congregation Jeshuat Yisrael, Temple Beth-El, Temple Emanu-El, Temple Habonim, Temple Sinai and Temple Torat Yisrael, as well as the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island.

Financial support is provided by the Joseph and Jacqueline Teverow Memorial Fund at the Jewish Federation Foundation of Greater Rhode Island. Since 2017, the program has sponsored 18 fall and spring courses covering Jewish history, themes, texts and personalities.

S.M. DE LA MONTE is a professor of neurosurgery and of pathology and laboratory medicine at Brown University.