Second Temple Period

Books in the Gap

Let’s start off with a quiz. There are five questions. Name five books that were written in the 19th century. (This one is easy. There are a ton of great books from the 1800’s. Do you have your five in mind?) Here a handful that you could have chosen: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Frankenstein by Mary Shelley The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and, last, Les Misérables by Victor Hugo All those books from the 19th century! How about naming five great books from the 18th century? This is a little more difficult, but still very doable. You could have listed. . . . Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift Tom Jones by Henry Fielding Candide by Voltaire The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The

History in the Gap

Everyone needs a little history. And if the history you need is a bit wacky, then may I suggest you read any of Leland Gregory’s books on “Stupid History.” My favorite story that he includes in his first volume is the story of the famous Greek playwright, Aeschylus. Aeschylus lived a great life until he didn’t, but to understand his demise you have to understand the hunting practices of eagles. Apparently, eagles found tortoise meat a real delicacy. However, there was an obvious problem: that meat was covered by a hard shell. But eagles are incredibly smart. They figured out that if they dropped a tortoise on a rock from a sufficient enough height, it would crack open and provide a great feast for the working eagle. Now, eagles have great eyesight, but on one tragic day, an eagle mistook Aeschylus’ bald head for a shiny rock and dropped a