The truth about Messiahs There are many books about the messiah. Some claim that we can expect a miraculous appearance of the messiah. Some, such as Patai’s and Rabow’s books tell about the dozens of false messiahs that appeared in the past and continue to appear today. Still others, such as Maimonides’s [...]
Introducing Targums Neophyti and Pseudo-Jonathan Targum Onkelos is the rabbinically indorsed Aramaic translation of the Five Books of Moses. Publishers have recognized its historical and theological importance since the invention of the printing press and have honored Onkelos by placing it on the inside center spot adjacent to the biblical Hebrew text. Many [...]
This joke was sent to me in response to the one I just posted. Bill woke up this morning and assured his wife Hillary not to worry. He reminded her that Nelson Mandela became [...]
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“Friendly Fire” is the eighth A. B. Yehoshua novel. It was published in Hebrew in 2007, and the English translation in 2008. It is composed in an interest-capturing manner, a short several page section about the behavior and thoughts of middle-aged Ya’ari followed by one focusing on his wife Daniela, then again on [...]
The thrust of Soren Kierkegaard’s 1843 influential book “Fear and Trembling” is long reflections on Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son Isaac, a story told in Genesis 22. Kierkegaard concludes from his analysis that Abraham represents the prototype of faith, for he showed faith when he was willing to obey God’s command to sacrifice [...]
The concepts of a world to come, of life after death, of heaven, purgatory, and hell are not in the Hebrew Bible, but are post-biblical ideas. Maimonides, Judaism’s greatest thinker, wrote in his essay called Chelek that heaven and hell do not exist. If you accept his view do not expect to go to [...]
Jewish Philosophy Unintentionally Including Christian Beliefs I spoke about Hasdai Crescas in the past, but a nice young man asked me in the synagogue about Crescas and how he differed with Maimonides, and [...]
Comparing the Code of Hammurabi to the Hebrew Bible The Code of Hammurabi is interesting on many levels, one of which is to compare the laws in this code with those in the Hebrew Bible. The comparison shows where the Bible was more humane than the Code. The following is some information about [...]
A radical theory about Sukkot People who pay attention to what they read realize that none of the Jewish holidays are practiced [...]
My meeting with Israel’s president My [...]
A Guide to the Prophets By Hoenig and Rosenberg Hoenig and Rosenberg, the former scholar the late Rabbi Dr. Sydney B. Hoenig was my uncle, assembled a comprehensive description of the prophetical books of the Hebrew Bible. Among much else, the authors have a very readable general description of the Bible, a table of [...]
Another interpretation of Abraham’s near sacrifice of Isaac In a recent posting, I gave my opinion that Soren Kierkegaard’s analysis of the Abraham story of Genesis 22 is designed to teach about “faith” is faulty. [...]
Descendants awarded for an ancestor’s deed Many Jews accept as true the somewhat mystical notion that the rewards for a person’s good deeds, if they are not collected during [...]
Purgatory and eliu neshamah The Roman Catholic Church and some Protestant denominations are convinced that there is a place called Purgatory. While it is not a [...]
Yom Kippur: [...]
The Real Reason for the Additional Day of Holidays Few people think they know why Jewish tradition added a day to the biblically assigned number for Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot when the holidays are observed [...]
Rosh Hashanah is not a biblical holiday The following is from my book “Mysteries of Judaism,” in which I point out that Judaism today is [...]
After reading this morning's essay, I was asked by a perceptive reader: Doesn’t the Torah itself say, offer a sacrifice as atonement for a misdeed? For example, Numbers 31:50 states, “we brought the Lord’s offerings…to make atonement [the Hebrew is lekhaper, from the root kh-p-r] for ourselves before the Lord.” Thus, it appears that contrary [...]
Repentance is not a biblical concept Parts of Hosea 14, beginning with 14:2, are read as the haphtarah (synagogue reading from the prophets) two or three times a year – with the portion of Vayeitzei, on Shabbat Shuva (the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur), and sometimes with the portion Vayeilekh. This practice [...]
The Biblical conception of “sin” There is no concept of “sin” in the Hebrew Bible in the [...]
The following insights were sent to me by my superb editor of my published books, Darlene Jospe. Most of our generation of 60+ were HOME SCHOOLED in many ways. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE. "If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning." My [...]
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Descendants awarded for an ancestor’s deed Many Jews accept as true the somewhat mystical notion that the rewards for a person’s good deeds, if they [...]
While the concept of a messiah sent to miraculously reorganize civilization and bring peace is not in the Hebrew Bible, it began to be accepted by Jews around the fourth or third century BCE, and later by Christianity. There is no single view as to how the messianic age will occur or when, and [...]
Many religious people of all religions look about and study history and convince themselves that the world and people cannot be improved except by the intervention of God and a miracle, by God creating a messianic age. While the idea of a messianic age is in the New Testament, it is not in the [...]
The idea developed in most cultures that a person is punished for his misdeed in the same way that he committed the misdeed. Slap someone and you will be slapped. Insult another and you will be insulted. In English, the notion is called “tit for tat.” In Hebrew it is midah keneged midah, “measure [...]
Rediscovering Philo of Alexandria, volume IV, Numbers By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel Rabbi Michael Leo Samuels has just published his fourth informative volume on the pioneer philosopher Philo, a volume is on the biblical book Numbers. He drew Philo ideas from a wealth of this philosopher’s exegetical comments and arranged them according to biblical [...]
