Why was the first Passover different from all other Passovers? By Israel Drazin The Israelites’ first Passover, celebrated in Egypt just prior to the exodus and described in Exodus 12:1-11, was radically different from the Torah mandated holiday observed after the exodus. Exodus 12, which describes the Egyptian ceremony, raises many [...]
Hayy ibn Yaqzan By Ibn Tufayl Translated with introduction by Lenn E. Goodman University of Chicago Press, 2003, 260 pages Reviewed by Israel Drazin There are many valuable lessons in the philosopher Ibn Tufayl’s twelfth century masterpiece. But what is most interesting in his parable is his view, a restatement, in clear dramatic [...]
Conversations about Maimonides With Israel Drazin In view of the anniversary of Moses Maimonides’ death on December 27, 2010 – he died in 1204, 806 years ago – a reader of Dr. Israel Drazin’s four books on Maimonides asked him the following questions. Question: People say about Maimonides that “from Moses to Moses there was none [...]
Does the Soul Survive? Jewish Journey to Belief in afterlife, past lives and living with purpose. Author Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz; Book reviewed by Israel Drazin
