The Origins of Judaism: An Archaeological-Historical Reappraisal (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library) by Yonatan Adler has a distinct benefit from other books of this type in that it exercises restraint in its conclusions.
In trying to find the origins of modern Jewish practices, like wearing tefillin and affixing mezuzah to the doorway, Adler wants to find the earliest available evidence of a practice, the terminus ante quem, before moving backward to other, less certain examples.
He uses a host of resources: Philo, Josephus, the Bible, archeology, and epigraphic evidence to find the earlies examples when, for instance, Judeans, affixed mezuzah to their doors.
Adler comes to a sound historical (and common sense conclusion): there is no hard evidence that all Judeans followed the Torah earlier than the late 2nd Century BCE. Before that time, there is evidence for a variety of practices that veer far away from what would become the rabbinical approach to halakha, and even in the case of the Jews at the garrison on Elephantine Island, a literal reading of the Hebrew Bible.
Adler shows us all how to craft a book about biblical history that does not overreach. This is a refreshing approach.
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