Strategies for Responding to Catastrophe: Examples from Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature

Experts of deuterocanonical and cognate literature shed light on how an individual or a group understood catastrophes in the late Second Temple Judaism. The essays in this volume carefully study questions like: What kind of acts lead to a catastrophe? Is there a chance to avoid a catastrophe? How to respond to a catastrophic situation? Ancient thinkers had strategies for survival and adapting to new situations. The contributors here select and analyze relevant passages covering the main works of the era from Ben Sira to the Book of Judith, from the Book of Tobit to early rabbinic liturgy. They focus on cognitive, psychological, social and ritual mechanisms that helped the ancient authors and their audiences cope with calamities. Disasters do not belong only to the past. Even in the present times people feel themselves weak and vulnerable in front of threatening catastrophes. The strategies developed by the ancient people can offer us insights to topics such as hope and solidarity.