Long before Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Batman and the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Hebrew Bible’s Ancient Avengers were inspiring Americans. Ripped from the pages of Tanakh, the figures of Samson, Esther, Elijah, David and Daniel served as spiritual sustenance to freedom fighters, politicians, and pundits striving to see the United States live up to its founding ideals. In this course we will examine how these Jewish heroes shaped the American story from its founding era to today.

We are grateful to Camille and Sandy Kress for their support of this course, which is part of the Kress Project on the Hebrew Bible.