The Plague of Darkness (Chapter 10:21–29) Two significant issues merit our attention from the Torah’s description of the ninth plague, the plague of darkness. The first deals with the statement that the darkness was so thick that people couldn’t see each other (Exodus 10:23). The Hebrew original is “a man was unable to see [...]
Many people, secular and religious, of different cultures and worldviews have attempted to calculate the age of the world. There is no agreement between them simply because it is an impossible task. Christians,[1] Muslims, and Jews have tried to do the calculation based on a literal reading of the Bible and have [...]
The book of Exodus raises many interesting questions. These questions deepen our understanding of the Bible and life in general. The Beginning of Israel’s Slavery (Chapters 1 and 2) Exodus starts by stating that after Joseph and his generation died, and their descendants multiplied exceedingly, “a new king arose who did not [...]
I am writing this on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2024. The calculation that led to this year being 2024 is the most famous Christian version. It was not invented until 525 AD. AD was used in the past and means “The Year of the Lord” (Jesus) in English. BC was used to indicate [...]
Genesis’ final portion The final Torah portion of Genesis begins in the middle of chapter 47. But in the Torah scroll used in synagogues, no customary space separates this biblical portion from the former one. Why? Rashi (based on Genesis Rabbah) offers two homiletical explanations. One is that after Jacob died, the hearts of [...]
The popular concept of the existence of a “soul,” a person’s personality separate from the body, which survives the body’s death and lives on for eternity, while accepted as axiomatic by Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, is not in the Hebrew Bible. The Torah has the Hebrew word nefesh, which means “soul” in Modern Hebrew, [...]
Recently, I listed over a dozen obscure items about Jacob in the Torah. This is good because the Torah wants us to think about esoteric subjects. We enjoy them and learn much from our thoughts when we think about them. The following are more than a dozen additional examples of the obscure items. [...]
Much about Jacob in the Torah is obscure. This is good because the Torah wants us to think about esoteric subjects. We enjoy them and learn much from our thoughts when we think about them. The following is a sample of the obscure items. Jacob is the third of the patriarchs. Why are there [...]
Many people have wrong ideas about the Jewish holiday Hanukkah. The following are a few examples: The holiday name is spelled in different ways in English such as Channukah, Chanukkah, Hannukah, and Hanukkah. None are wrong. Hanukkah does not celebrate a victory over the Greeks. Due to Alexander's conquests, the Greeks ruled many kingdoms, [...]
Many people are mistakenly convinced that the Jewish holiday of Chanukah celebrates the victory of the Jewish religion over Hellenism and that the enemy was Greece. Neither supposed fact is true. The Jews in Judea, Egypt, and other diaspora countries had a longstanding favorable relationship with the Greeks and Hellenism well before and long [...]
The popular notion among Jews is that the biblical prophet Elijah will return to earth from heaven and announce the coming of the Messiah before he arrives.[1] I do not think this will happen. Many Christians, Jews, and people of other religions are [...]
Jacob’s beloved son Joseph committed some inexplicable acts, raising many questions, such as whether we consider him a good man. Many Jews call Joseph Yosef Hatzadik, meaning “Joseph the righteous one.” Is this accurate? A minority of “pious” people apply terms like “holy” and “righteous” to people and items when the majority feel otherwise. We [...]
Since people of many religions say they believe in God, can we say that all people believe in the same God? I think the answer is no. I’ll explain why. First, I think the concept of belief is wrong. It was introduced into Judaism by the then-Jewish, later Christian, Paul, who attempted to [...]
Famous Jewish philosophers had conflicting views about prophecy and divine providence. People can accept or reject their views. Many Jews are convinced that Jews are judged by their behavior, not by their [...]
I edited Vashti's Daughter to create a link to Amazon so that you can click to buy the book from Amazon.
Raven West's novel “Vashti’s Daughter” is brilliant. I enjoyed it. Every page. I would call it a fantasy, with the best meaning of the word. It is somewhat akin to J. K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” books, but better. The plot is excellent and moves at a delightful speed. It is very creative and [...]
The Torah does not clarify much about the patriarch Abraham. Much is obscure. This is good. It prompts us to think. And when we think, we learn. And there is much in Abraham’s life that can improve our lives and make it better. Why is there no miraculous birth story for Abraham as for [...]
There are remarkable similarities between the biblical story of the flood and the more ancient version of Gilgamesh. The Babylonian epic Gilgamesh was written on twelve tablets around 2000 BCE and has survived in several versions. It was discovered in 1839 among the ruins of a buried library in the excavated ancient city of [...]
The Odyssey Translated by Emily Wilson I read another translation of “The Odyssey” in the [...]
Dear Friends, I made an embarrassing mistake. I apologize. There is a Yiddish expression, which in English can be translated as “Men think, but God laughs.” The idea is that every human makes mistakes. I want to add, however, that while this is true, it is not true that God mocks us. I wrote to [...]
There is a greater concentration of miracles in the Elijah and Elisha stories in the biblical book Kings than in the Exodus tales.[1] Are all of them natural events? Maimonides would answer yes, they were natural events, not miracles. In his Guide of the Perplexed 2:48, Maimonides emphasizes that whenever the Bible states that an event, [...]
The biblical book Kings describes the Deity as Y-h-v-h, as did the Five Books of Moses. It also calls the Deity Elohim, generally translated as “God,” as does the Five Books. Yet, it describes the prophet Elisha as a “Man of Elohim,” not a “Man of Y-h-v-h.” Why? A related question. Are the many [...]
The weekly portion of Haazinu (chapter 32), the penultimate Torah’s ending, is “The Song.” In it, because he realizes the significance of his message, Moses reemphasizes the benefits and consequences derived from observing and disobeying the divine law. Jewish law generally requires, with few exceptions, two witnesses to produce evidence in a court [...]
II Kings 4 describes a troubled woman who discovers her son has died. She rushes to leave her home and seeks help from the prophet Elisha. Her husband did not know his son died. He asks her in verse 23, “Why do you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath?” [...]
Just as fights exist between religious Zionists, they exist among the Zealots. Judaism is destroying itself. Maggid Books in Israel has reprinted the original 1920 version of the classical mystical book Orot, “Lights,” by the famous Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook. The 2023 publication appears in its original Hebrew with a preface, introduction, [...]
Yair Ettinger’s “Frayed, The Disputes Unraveling Religious Zionists” is eye-opening. He is revealing a dangerous situation that many people do not know exists. And those who know don’t know how to resolve the problem. The religious Zionist movement today in Israel is splintered. And each side, like squabbling children who fail to realize the [...]
Professor Rabbi Dr. Michael A. Shmidman described “Isadore Twersky’s Unique Contribution to the Study of The Guide of the Perplexed” in five steps. These were Maimonides’ descriptions of ideal humans. They are people who enhance their thinking and study the sciences to understand how the world functions and use that knowledge to act and [...]
The parasha Ki Seitzei (21:10-25:19) contains many laws. The Masorites of the first millennium of the Common Era counted 110 verses in the portion. They gave it the mnemonic Hebrew letters ayin lamed yud, whose numerical numbers total 110. The word means “upon me” and suggests that the Jew accepts the many laws [...]
Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Grossman, a professor at Bar Ilan University in Israel, published Abraham, The Story of a Journey. Maggid Books published it in 2023. The book is brilliant, very thoughtful, and informative. It was initially published in Israel in Hebrew in 2016. Atara Snowbell translated it into English. Her rendition is excellent, enjoyable, [...]
