The following is a brief version of an excerpt from “What’s Beyond the Bible Text” by Rabbi Dr. Stanley Wagner and me that was published in September 2013. We usually put three articles for each biblical portion, generally discussing thought-provoking subjects that people will not find elsewhere. This week’s essay is from VAYEITZEI (Chapters [...]
(From my good friend and study partner Dr. Jack Cohen) He was a grandson of slaves, and was born in a poor neighborhood of New Orleans, known as the "Back of Town". His father abandoned the family when the child was an infant. His mother became a prostitute and the boy and his sister [...]
By Israel Drazin Should we attend a House of God? Maimonides offers a counter-intuitive idea about attending houses of God in his discussion of “uncleanliness,” which most people will reject. But should they do so? The biblical Hebrew tamei is generally translated “unclean” and “impure.” Priests are told in Leviticus 21:1 [...]
Strange details in Joshua chapter 5 The previous two parts to this chapter addressed general problems; this part 3 examines some specific points. Numbers We should pay attention to the use of numbers in Scripture and in traditions associated with it as well as the number of times that the [...]
By Israel Drazin A literal reading of the Bible seems to indicate that God will kill someone for even a minor mistake and when killing guilty people, God kills innocents as well. An example of the former is the story of the two sons of Aaron the priest told in [...]
By Israel Drazin There are Jews in Namibia, Africa, with an Orthodox synagogue in a town. The Jews there call themselves “Bush Orthodox.” The synagogue services follow the Orthodox tradition, and there are services every Shabbat, on holidays, the New Moon, and when one of the parishioners needs a minyan, [...]
The following is a brief version of an excerpt from “what’s Beyond the Bible Text” by Rabbi Dr. Stanley Wagner and me that was published in September 2013. We usually put three articles for each biblical portion, generally discussing thought-provoking subjects that people will not find elsewhere. This week’s essay is from Toldot. The Transfer [...]
Unusual Bible Interpretations Joshua Chapter 5- part 2 The following discussion is from my book Maimonides and the Biblical Prophets. “The Problem, My Dear Readers, Is Based on Wrong Assumptions!” If Joshua and Moses could respond to the difficulties raised by Joshua 5:2–9 and Exodus 4:24–26 discussed in [...]
Unusual Bible Interpretations Joshua Chapter 5- part 1 Chapter 5 describes what the Israelites did when they first entered Canaan after wandering for some forty-years in the desert. The following discussion is from my book Maimonides and the Biblical Prophets. “Joshua, Why Didn’t Moses Circumcise the Israelites Before [...]
By Israel Drazin Unusual Bible Interpretations - Joshua Chapter 4 Chapter 4 continues the story of the first miracle of the conquest, the splitting of the Jordan River as the Red Sea was split for Moses, the way Israelites crossed it, and how they memorialized the event. It raises the question: [...]
A Story of a Dog By Israel Drazin Those who haven’t seen this newspaper report will enjoy it here. HELENA, Montana — In Montana, a rabbi is an unusual sight. So when a Hasidic one walked into the State Capitol last December, with his long beard, black hat and [...]
The following is a brief version of an excerpt from “what’s Beyond the Bible Text” by Rabbi Dr. Stanley Wagner and me that was published in September 2013. We usually put three articles for each biblical portion, generally discussing thought-provoking subjects that people will not find elsewhere. This week’s essay is from Chayei Sarah. [...]
By Israel Drazin Dad, Rabbi Dr. Nathan Drazin, could have been rich. He worked for his wealthy father in his real estate business for awhile, but like his younger brother and several of his brothers-in-law, he wanted to be a rabbi, to study and teach. He was ordained in 1933 at [...]
Chapter 3 This is the third chapter in which I plan to present 24 thought-provoking essays on the biblical book Joshua, one for each of its 24 chapters. In chapter 1, God appoints Joshua to succeed Moses, tells him to cross the Jordan into Canaan and conquer the land, and [...]
By Israel Drazin The following is a brief version of an excerpt from “Beyond the Bible Text” by Rabbi Dr. Stanley Wagner and me that was published in September 2013. We usually put three articles for each biblical portion, generally discussing thought-provoking subjects that people will not find elsewhere. This week’s essay is [...]
By Israel Drazin Maimonides’ Important Idea about Prophecy The following essay is a shortened version from my book Maimonides and the Biblical Prophets Maimonides wrote his philosophical work Guide of the Perplexed in 1190 to disseminate truths as he saw them to fellow Jews who lacked his knowledge. He was [...]
By Israel Drazin Philosophers and thinkers generally reject many religious concepts. There is no religious concept more anathema to them than grace. Grace is commonly understood as God’s free unearned love given generously by a loving deity. It is unearned for there is nothing that people can do to merit God’s [...]
By Israel Drazin Biblical prophecy does not predict what will be The view of traditional thinkers Most people read the Bible literally without much thought. When the Bible has a prophet say that something will occur, they understand this as a vision from God of what will occur. However, the [...]
Unusual Bible Interpretations Joshua Chapter 2 Scouting Jericho Chapter 2 of Joshua tells a bizarre tale of two spies that Joshua sent to discover whether the Israelite invading forces could conquer the city Jericho, the entry point into Canaan. The story is strange because of a host of reasons. Some [...]
A story about humility By Israel Drazin Dad was exceptionally bright. He knew the entire Torah by heart and if you mentioned a talmudic idea, he could tell you the talmudic tractate and page where it was found. He asked: Judaism, as other religions, teaches that people should [...]
A story about beards By Israel Drazin This is a true story about Baltimore, Maryland, during the mid-twentieth century and my dad’s feelings about beards. Dad, Rabbi Dr. Nathan Drazin, was the highly respected rabbi of Shaarei Tfiloh Congregation in Baltimore, from 1933-1964, one of the largest Orthodox congregations in [...]
The two greatest Bible secrets - 2 By Israel Drazin God was not directly involved in the Bible The following is from my book Maimonides: The Exceptional Mind One of the most overlooked revelations of Maimonides, one that profoundly affects how the Bible should be interpreted, is the clarification that he [...]
The two greatest Bible Secrets - 1 By Israel Drazin Many Torah teachings are not the ideal Maimonides (1138-1204) was Judaism’s greatest thinker. Many people are afraid to read his Guide of the Perplexed because it contains rational ideas that do not conform to the teachings they received in [...]
The following is a brief version of an excerpt from “Beyond the Bible Text” by Rabbi Dr. Stanley Wagner and me that was published in September 2013. We usually put three articles for each biblical portion, generally discussing thought-provoking subjects that people will not find elsewhere. This week’s essay is from lech lecha (chapters 12:1-17:27) [...]
By Israel Drazin I was in the lavatory of an Orthodox synagogue recently – I am an Orthodox Jew – and I saw a man exiting a stall where he had defecated, walk to the sink, and take a cup set near the sink for hand washing. He filled [...]
Joshua Chapter 1 By Israel Drazin Having completed 54 Unusual Bible Interpretations on the Pentateuch, I have begun this series on the next biblical book Joshua. I will focus on one chapter every week. The Book Joshua The first chapter of Joshua presents its history using the number three.[1] [...]
By Israel Drazin The biblical flood and the Gilgamesh myth - 3 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 [...]
By Israel Drazin The biblical and Babylonian flood stories - 2 There are three diverse Babylonian tales of a world-wide flood that have endured until today. One is a Sumerian version that survived only in fragments. Another is the rather famous Gilgamesh epic in which Utrapishtim tells his descendant Gilgamesh [...]
By Israel Drazin The biblical and a Greek flood stories - 1 Judaism is far from alone in chronicling the flood that covered the entire earth. Virtually every culture had the story, including the ancient Mesopotamian Gilgamesh epic, several Greek versions, and even one among the American Indians. The tales [...]
The following is a brief version of an excerpt from “Beyond the Bible Text” by Rabbi Dr. Stanley Wagner and me that was published in September 2013. We usually put three articles for each biblical portion, generally discussing thought-provoking subjects that people will not find elsewhere. This week’s essay is from Noach (Genesis 6:9 [...]
