ONLINE: The First Week: Ancient & Contemporary Insights from Sabbath Entrepreneurship

As recently as 2400 years ago, the seven-day week was unknown everywhere in the world except in the Jewish community, where it was well established as a social practice that organized the rhythms of life centered around the Sabbath. But how and why did the week emerged given the seemingly insurmountable challenges a “Sabbath Entrepreneur” would have faced in getting it off the ground? The challenges we are experiencing today due to the coronavirus pandemic give us special insight into how such the week might have gained traction and ultimately transformed the world. This lecture, based on the author’s book project, will look at those ancient challenges through the twin lens of modern social science and the Hebrew Bible.