Online public lecture hosted by the Canadian Institute for Mediterranean Studies and presented by Rachel Urowitz, Department Head, Jewish History, Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto.

This presentation examines stone vessels and ritual baths (mikvaot) from the late Second Temple period, discovered in the Galilean town of Yodefat. While these artifacts are often associated with the purity practices of the temple priests and cult in Jerusalem, archaeological evidence from Yodefat and other sites in central and northern Israel reveal that the use of mikvaot and stone vessels was not limited to Jerusalem or its priesthood. The findings suggest that such purity practices were far more widespread than previously recognized. What began as biblical purity laws had by the late Second Temple period evolved into significant cultural and domestic norms.

Zoom link: https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/83377569435/