The Book of Esther
After writing about the book of Esther in “Ruth, Esther, and Judith,” I wrote the following Afterword about the book. Esther is in no way similar to what many think the book contains. Perhaps most [...]
9
03, 2020
4
03, 2020
Purim differs from the biblical requirements
The current practice is that Purim is celebrated as a one-day holiday. Cities that were walled at the time of Joshua’s conquest of Israel – most notably Jerusalem – celebrate Purim on Adar 15, as a commemoration of the end of hostilities in the walled city of Shushan, where the battles occurred on Adar [...]
1
03, 2020
A New Haggada
“The Koren Youth Haggada,” an illustrated new 2020 Haggada for use during the Passover Seder has reflections about Passover and Jewish practices, drawing on every other page, raises questions on most pages to prompt thinking and discussion, and is filled with instructions, activities to experience, and thoughts or quotes or a story to attract children’s [...]
1
03, 2020
A New Haggada
“The Koren Youth Haggada,” an illustrated new 2020 Haggada for use during the Passover Seder has reflections about Passover and Jewish practices, drawing on every other page, raises questions on most pages to prompt thinking and discussion, and is filled with instructions, activities to experience, and thoughts or quotes or a story to attract children’s [...]
25
02, 2020
Esther never fasted on the Fast of Esther
The holiday of Purim is observed beginning the evening of March 9 with a fast day called the “Fast of Esther” that precedes it on 13 Adar. Some Jews observe the fast day from morning of March 9 until sundown. It does not begin the night before as Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av, and is, [...]
21
02, 2020
A very informative commentary on Isaiah
Most people think that since Jewish ancestors placed certain books in the Hebrew Bible, this means that they are significant in some way, and this way is clear to even the average reader. Nothing is further from the truth. All of the biblical books have deep messages. Some are even obscure and difficult to understand. [...]
17
02, 2020
“Moses did not write the entire Torah.”
The rational Spanish sage Abraham ibn Ezra (1089–1164), whose views are included in most rabbinical Bibles with commentaries, stated that Moses did not write the entire Torah. Realizing that Moses was on top of the mountain alone where he died and did not descend to report what happened there even before he died, Abraham ibn [...]
13
02, 2020
An Excellent Study of Maimonides
The Spaniard Maimonides (1138-1204) is generally considered the greatest Jewish philosopher. He sours so high above other people that he is called “The Great Eagle.” The popular saying about him is “From Moses to Moses, there were none like Moses.” The first Moses is the biblical law giver. The second refers to Maimonides whose first [...]
10
02, 2020
Thinking Outside the Cage
Many readers of the Bible have caged themselves like animals in a zoo and are afraid to step out of the cages they created for themselves; they fear to think beyond the ideas they heard from teachers when they were taught Bible as children. The following are some examples. Exodus begins in chapter [...]
4
02, 2020
Why are there two versions of the Ten Commandments?
There are two accounts of the Ten Commandments. One is in Exodus 20 and the second in Deuteronomy 5. The two differ in more than a dozen instances in the spelling of some terms, added and changed expressions, word order changes, and the insertion of explanations in the Deuteronomic edition. An example of a modification [...]
13
01, 2020
The Best Bible Commentary in English
“The Koren Tanakh of the Land of Israel” is without doubt the best Bible commentary in English. I say this after using over a hundred such books while writing my own books on the Bible, such as my many volumes on the differences between the Hebrew Bible and its Aramaic translation called Onkelos. I feel [...]
1
01, 2020
Does the Bible speak of life after death?
Does Daniel 12 reveal that there is life after death with reward and punishment, and does the Book of Daniel speak of the events preceding the victory of Chanukah? Life after death The biblical books preceding the book of Daniel do not contain clear statements about life after death. Although a number of verses appear [...]
15
12, 2019
The Chanukah story does not criticize the Greeks
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 countries of the diaspora had a longstanding favorable relationship with the Greeks and Hellenism well before and [...]
8
12, 2019
Will the Messiah be human?
One of our readers wrote and asked if the Bile predict the future arrival of a godly messiah. The following was my response. Maimonides I agree with Maimonides that there is no clear explicit statement in the entire Hebrew Bible about a miraculous messiah coming to save the Jews or, better stated, the world. [...]
1
12, 2019
Does God Know Us?
In response to my article “Noah’s Flood teaches us how to understand the Bible,” our reader Turk Hill wrote with a question that I answered. Dear Rabbi Drazin, After the flood, Genesis recounts G-d in a state of regret, “His heart was saddened.” This has caused some scholars to ask the question, “Does G-d regret?” [...]
26
11, 2019
Why must women begin the Sabbath before men?
Why Must Women Light Sabbath Candles Long before the Sabbath Begins? If people would take the time to look at the bulletin of an Orthodox Synagogue, they would find something very curious. The women are instructed [...]
18
11, 2019
A fascinating new scholarly look at Moses
Aviva Gottlieb Zornberg is an exceptionally good scholar. In her book Moses, she offers her readers an interesting generally different but thought-provoking look at the life and deeds of the biblical Moses. She approaches the telling of Moses’ history based on Midrash because, as she states, “the biographical challenge is immeasurably enriched by the existence [...]
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11, 2019
My most reviewed article, even today
The Shofar Scares and Confuses Satan, Keeping Him at Arm’s Length It is absolutely [...]
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11, 2019
An excellent history of ancient Israel
Alex Israel’s new book on II Kings follows his book on the first half of the book of Kings, called I Kings. Both are excellent, easy to read, very thorough, very informative. The Book of Kings was broken into two parts because the Greek translation of the book around 200 BCE divided the book in [...]
8
11, 2019
Was Isaac angry that Abraham tried to kill him?
Many people are convinced that Isaac was angry with his father Abraham because he lied to him when he said that the two were going on a trip to offer a sacrifice to God, implying that the sacrifice would be an animal, and that Abraham tied him up on top of a stone altar, planned [...]
5
11, 2019
Mistaken ideas about Abraham
Some rabbinical imaginative notions about Abraham Many claims are made about Abraham, most likely to enhance his stature, reputation, distinction, and prestige. Perhaps also because it was felt that Abraham must have had some kind of relationship with God before he was 75 years old. None of these views are even hinted in the Torah. [...]
1
11, 2019
Noah’s Flood teaches us how to understand the Bible
The biblical story of the flood during the days of Noah raises many questions, but the answers help us to understand how to interpret biblical events. Some of the questions are: Why were different divine punishments done in very different ways. For example, Cain was banished in Genesis 4:12 for murdering his brother Abel; [...]
27
10, 2019
What is the origin of the Oral Torah?
Many people think that the Oral Torah was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Many rabbis preach this view despite it being untrue to encourage Jews to obey the Oral Torah teachings believing that God ordered them to do so. Actually, the Oral Torah was developed by the Pharisees and later rabbis. The Pharisees made [...]
23
10, 2019
Some questions about Cain and Abel
Who was the better person, Cain or Abel? It is possible to see the tale of Cain and Abel in a different light. Cain became a farmer. This is very difficult work. Abel opted to be a shepherd, arguably a lazy activity. Why does the Bible seem to prefer Abel? Why did Abel think that [...]
21
10, 2019
Eisenhower and Roosevelt were insensitive to Jewish needs
I received the following and I am convinced that it is something we should all know. Dr. Rafael Medoff permitted me to place it on my websites. As published in the Jerusalem Post - October 16, 2019 WHY EISENHOWER DELETED THE JEWS by Rafael Medoff (Dr. Rafael Medoff is founding director of [...]
20
10, 2019
Three minutes of pure magic and love
Three minutes that are pure magic. Sent to me by Hessel Meilech. http://assets.evie.com/asset/cc1afc44ee3cdaac9ae2f354f834dd30d7aa343e/video_inline_h540
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10, 2019
A startling example of an inability to learn from history
History repeats itself mostly because people fail to learn from the terrible consequences that occurred following the foolish acts of the past. The Bible tells us about the supposed wisdom of King Solomon. In my book “The Authentic King Solomon,” I show that actually, scripture is demonstrating that the king was not as smart as [...]
17
10, 2019
Rosh Chodesh is not observed as the Torah commands
Like all other biblical holidays, Rosh Chodesh is not observed today as required by biblical law. This is because of changed social circumstances and because the principle element of the biblical worship was animal sacrifices, which was discontinued after the Romans destroyed the Jewish Second Temple in 70 CE. Additionally, the name of the celebration [...]
14
10, 2019
Four misunderstood discontinued Jewish institutions
There are many disagreements about four ancient Jewish institutions: the Sanhedrin, the Men of the Great Assembly, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees. Put differently, no one knows the truth about these institutions, even though that for many Jews, the subject is profoundly important. Sanhedrin Jewish tradition supposes that the institution of the Sanhedrin began [...]
13
10, 2019
Difficulties and explanations regarding Kohelet
Tradition mandates that Jews should read the biblical book Kohelet, also spelt Koheleth and Qohelet, called Ecclesiastes in English, during the holiday of Sukkot. Both the Hebrew and English names mean “collector” or “collection.” We do not know why this mandate was made. Some say that since Sukkot is a very happy holiday, we need [...]