In the manuscripts of the Babylonian Talmud, Menachot 43b, we read, Rabbi Yehudah [1] would say: A person is obligated to recite the following three blessings every day-[Praised are you...] who has not made me a Gentile (גוי); who has not made me a woman (אשה); [*] who has not made me an ignoramous (בור). [...]
A very well-known mishnah, Kiddushin 1:7, reads, כל מצות הבן על האב אנשים חייבין ונשים פטורות וכל מצות האב על הבן אחד אנשים ואחד נשים חייבין וכל מצות עשה שהזמן גרמה אנשים חייבין ונשים פטורות וכל מצות עשה שלא הזמן גרמה אחד אנשים ואחד נשים חייבין וכל מצות לא תעשה בין שהזמן גרמה בין [...]
Over Shabbat I saw an interesting advertisement from the John Templeton Foundation featuring a number of snippets from a series called Does the Universe Have a Purpose? There were a number of very interesting excerpts and I urge people to take a look at the above linked site. I also just read at JTA that [...]
Pieter Bruegel’s midrash.
My friend Ethan Tucker has started a blog called Parshanut which is focused on the weekly Torah portion and specifically the work of an individual commentator. This year he is concentrating on the Rashbam’s commentary.
While going over this past week’s Torah reading, something which was always in my mind was how much Bruce Springsteen has used material from Genesis in his songs. As some of you may know, I am a rabid Springsteen fan, and his songs were in my head maybe more than usual because of both his [...]
Lately I have been hearing a lot about “Blessings of the Animals”. It is quite common in many churches and associated with St. Francis of Assisi. Also see this article for the increasing role that pets play in houses of worship. I know that some synagogues have a similar ceremony, many observing it around Parashat [...]
Every since people have been talking they have also been gossiping and slandering. Lashon ha-Ra is one of the great weaknesses of most people on Earth and the internet has possibly made it even worse. Daniel J. Solove has tried to tackle the difficult question of privacy, slander and reputation in the internet age in [...]
Biblical Studies Carnival XXII is now up. Some interesting things: 1. James Kugel has a website which includes an appendix to his new book, How to Read the Bible, summarizing his argument. 2. See this post and comments for a critique of Kugel. 3. A discussion on the Anchor Bible now being published by Yale [...]
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