What's New in Old News?
The official newsletter of the Peripatetic Historian. June 2023, Vol. 3, no. 1.
Welcome to volume 3 of What’s New in Old News. Two years ago I published the first installment of the newsletter and now, twenty-four installments later, we’re beginning the third year of this quasi-historical screed. I’m not sure what it is, but it certainly uses a nice font.
In the June Issue:
Peripatetic Field Report: In the Land of the Samaritans
Comet Madness Update
The Portuguese Way
Let’s get started…
Peripatetic Field Report: In the Land of the Samaritans
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is Jerusalem.” (John 4:19-20, NRSV)
Like the Samaritan woman whom Jesus met at the well, I long shared the common view that the Jerusalem temple was Judaism’s religious center. The Hebrew Bible makes frequent reference to the Jerusalem temple; Jesus debated the Pharisees in its precincts and drove the money-lenders from its gates. Clearly that ancient edifice—long ago destroyed by the Romans—served as the core of the Jewish faith.
And yet, far from the tourist-choked Old City and King Herod’s stone-block walls, Mt. Gerizim—crowned by the ruins of an equally ancient temple and the center of Samaritan religious life—offers an alternate version of early Judaism.
Mt. Gerizim is an arid, limestone-encrusted prominence that rises 2,800 feet above sea level. Despite its proximity to Nablus (Shechem in the ancient world), the mountain stands apart, isolated from the business and concerns of the world.
The Samaritans are the descendants of Israel’s Ten Northern tribes. After King Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, precipitated a civil war in the kingdom of Israel, the ten tribes that broke away required an alternate place to worship—rebels certainly couldn’t offer sacrifices in Jerusalem, the capital and religious center of the two southern tribes. The northern rebels built a new temple on Mt. Gerizim to rival Jerusalem.
Centuries of wars—with the two southern tribes, the Assyrians, and the Neo-Babylonians—followed. Throughout the upheaval,the Samaritans, the faithful remnant of the Ten Northern tribes, clung to their land and faith. The Samaritans differed from the southern branch of Judaism in several important respects, including their beliefs that only the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, was to be accepted as God’s word, and that sacrifices must be offered on Mt. Gerizim.
These positions angered the dominant branch of Judaism, centered on Jerusalem. In 110 BC, John Hyrcanus, the Jewish High Priest, led an army against Samaria. He defeated his religious rivals, sacked Samaria and Shechem, and destroyed the Mt. Gerizim temple.
This hostility from mainline Judaism provides the context necessary to understand Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). In the modern world, the word “Samaritan” has become a synonym for someone who performs good deed. Although this linguistic slippage has robbed Christ’s example of its force, in the first century AD, the idea that a despised Samaritan would have cared for an injured traveler—contra the two “good” Jews who passed without offering assistance—would have scandalized Christ’s listeners. From a first century Jewish perspective, nothing positive could be expected from a wicked, heretical Samaritan.
The Samaritans persevered through two Jewish rebellions, and as the centuries slipped past, the faith again gained adherents in the north. This small renaissance threatened the region’s new religion—Christianity—and, in AD 484, the Byzantine Emperor Zenon decided to check Samaritan growth. He cleared the temple ruins from Mt. Gerizim and built a Christian church and monastery.
Despite centuries of adversity and persecution by greater powers, the Samaritans have endured. Today a small Samaritan village sits at the foot of Mt. Gerizim. 800 men and women continue, they claim, the practice of true, unadulterated Judaism. Led by a high priest, who is thought to stand in a line that stretches 164 generations back to Adam, the community keeps ancient tradition alive, continuing to offer sacrifices on the mountain, and practicing their faith in the manner of their ancestors.
Comet Madness
Memorial Day Madness
Over the Memorial Day weekend, my publisher and Bookbub collaborated on a Comet Madness promotion. For one week, beginning May 27, the price of the e-book version dropped to $1.99. This had a salutary effect on sales, and for a couple of days Comet Madness flew up the Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestseller lists (on Saturday the book peaked at number four on the B&N non-fiction list).
The e-book sale ends on June 3, so if you want a discounted copy of Comet Madness for your electronic device, click this handy link:
Comet Madness Everywhere
Excitement continues to pop like dandelions here at Comet Madness HQ. I did a rough count yesterday and find that I have 25 lectures scheduled for the next five months. This includes in-person events in Oregon and Washington, virtual addresses to several US astronomy clubs, and a seventeen stop book tour in the UK. That’s a lot of time spent talking about the 1910 return of Halley’s Comet.
Upcoming Events
June 12, 2023, 7:00 p.m. The 1910 Return of Halley’s Comet. Denver Astronomical Society, Colorado (Virtual lecture).
July 21, 2023, 7:00 p.m. Comet Madness: Richard J. Goodrich in Conversation with Kevin O’Connor. Auntie’s Bookstore, Spokane, WA.
July 29, 2023, 7:00 p.m. The Manzanita Writers' Series Presents: Richard J. Goodrich. The Hoffman Center for the Arts, Manzanita, OR.
August 17, 2023, 10:30 a.m. Fear and Loathing in the Heavens: How the 1910 Return of Halley’s Comet Terrified a Nation. The Benton County Historical Society, Corvallis, OR.
Additional events, as they arise, can always be found on my website’s Media Page.
Listen In
And speaking of talking, May brought the release of an interview with Evan Axelbank about the book. When we recorded the podcast, I had just returned from Belfast and had a raging head cold. Battling a mucus-clogged brain, I spent the entire interview trying not to cough—and it shows. I don’t know that this one is going to find a place in my personal podcast hall of fame, but I share the low moments as well as the highlights with you. Click here to listen in:
More Listening
Are you the sort of person who enjoys a good audiobook experience? We have you covered. The audiobook version of Comet Madness will be released on June 6, 2023. I’m sure it will be fabulous—although I must admit that I prefer text and silence when enjoying a book.
If you have yet to procure a copy or are still searching for that perfect Father’s Day gift, Amazon would be happy to send you a shiny new copy of Comet Madness:
The Portuguese Way
Eighteen days after you receive this newsletter Mary and I will leave Palestine for a summer of peripatetic activity. Our first stop will be Porto, Portugal, our starting point for a fifteen day hike along the Camino Portuguese to Spain’s Santiago de Compostela. This will be our third cross-country trek. In 2017 we hiked the Camino Frances (500 miles from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago) and in 2019 we walked the Via Romea Germanica (650 miles from the Austrian border to Rome). Covid interfered with a 2021 expedition, and scheduling constraints have trimmed our ambitions for this jaunt. Porto to Santiago de Compostela is only 150 miles, but a short adventure is better than no adventure. We are looking forward to the satisfaction of long walks, deep sleeps, and fresh vistas.
Footsore, but mentally refreshed, we shall then wing our way to the Pacific Northwest for a month of relaxation, punctuated with a few Comet Madness events. Then, as August draws to a close and summer recedes, it is back to Palestine for a second year, a British book tour, and who would dare predict what else?
Be safe, be sensible,