It’s 10:00pm in New York, and, like many others, I’m watching the debate. But there’s one thing that I can’t stop thinking about, and that’s the lecture that I just heard at Drisha by Zvi Septimus, “Was Resh Lakish a Hedonist or an Ascetic? How The Bavli Conveys Meaning”.
For all of those who couldn’t make it, the audio of the lecture is available here, and here’s the audio of the questions and answers (some may want to listen to them before the lecture itself). The sourcesheet is available here. And for those in Jerusalem next week, make sure to come hear Michal Bar-Asher Siegal speak about “The Babylonian Talmud and Christian literature: Resh Lakish and the Monastic Repentant Robber“!
The Talmud Blog 
What an excellent paper! Thank you so much for uploading it.
Audio is great
Sent from my iPhone
If I remember correctly there is a (Greek?) inscription in the catacombs at Beit Shearim that identifies a family member as a gladiator. If you want the reference, I would be glad to send it to you. Great paper, Tzvi.