Julia Watts Belser is Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies in the Department of Theology at Georgetown University, Washington DC. Her articles have appeared in numerous journals, including the AJS Review, the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology, and the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics.

• Introduction; Encountering the Bavli: an introduction for readers new to the Babylonian Talmud; 1. Covenantal ecology and the discourse of natural signs; 2. Reading the natural world: interpretation and meaning in Bavli Taʿanit; 3. Merit in the midst of danger: falling walls, faltering houses, and the power of performative perception; 4. Charisma and ritual fasting for the sake of rain: parrhesia, penitence, and the construction of intimacy before God; 5. Confusing the fathers: charisma and the limits of human power; 6. Hiddenness and holiness: gender, class, concealment, and the critique of rabbinic status-seeking; Conclusion.

'Reading this volume was both easy and enjoyable. At times, Belser's prose is poetic. (A rare statement for an academic tome!) … Belser's volume offers many fresh insights into an oft-studied tractate. While this book might focus on disaster, as a work of scholarship, it is in fact a success.' Jordan Rosenblum, AJS Review