Book Talk | Behind Ancient Bars: Narratives of Incarceration in the Hebrew Bible
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Book Talk | Behind Ancient Bars: Narratives of Incarceration in the Hebrew Bible
Presented by Hadar AviramThis event is free and open to the public.
Pizza will be provided to attendees,About the Book
In Behind Ancient Bars, law professor and rabbinical student Hadar Aviram challenges the conventional assumption that incarceration is an artifact of modernity by looking back to depictions of detention and confinement in the Hebrew Bible. Aviram takes readers on a journey through the Hebrew Bible's carceral landscape through creative rereadings of five stories: Joseph in Egypt, Esther in Persia, Daniel in Babylonia, Samson in Gaza, and Jeremiah in Jerusalem. Drawing on her experience as a leading voice against mass incarceration, she finds connections between antiquity and the contemporary understanding of incarceration that encompasses not just the prison itself but also other confinement programs. Infusing ancient biblical stories with fresh life through modern punishment theories, Aviram shows how incarceration has much to teach us about government, the experience of people in confinement, and the strength and resilience of the human spirit across millennia.About the Author
Hadar Aviram is the Thomas Miller '73 Professor at University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, and a rabbinic student at Hebrew Union College. She is the author of five books on punishment and incarceration and has published extensively about correctional policy, prison conditions, parole and release, and forgiveness. The former President of the Western Society of Criminology, Aviram is a frequent speaker on matters of prison conditions, and as part of her pro-bono work was part of the legal team who litigated on behalf of San Quentin prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her fourth book recounting that experience, FESTER (with Chad Goerzen), won the American Society of Criminology book award in 2025. Behind Ancient Bars is her fifth book, a synergy between her decades of experience in prison scholarship and her newer research interests in antiquity, biblical literature, and Jewish studies.