Over at Gene Expression you can read an understandable discussion with neat graphics about the genetic background of Ashkenazi Jews. Some of the conclusions: 1) Jewish populations do have a common ancestral affinity. 2) But, that affinity is complemented by admixture with the populations amongst whom the Diaspora settled. 3) There is a suggestion that [...]
The great historian Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi z”l has passed away. Read what Menachem Butler has written here.
The Masorti Movement in Israel has published a new edition of their siddur, ואני תפילתי. A description of the siddur can be found here. The siddur will be distributed by the Yediot Achronot publishing house so it should be available in many bookstores within the next few days.
One place that I don’t miss visiting is Megiddo Prison. I had a number of stints of miluim (reserve duty) there and it was far from a pleasant place. Jeffrey Goldberg got a book from his prison guard stint and all I got was…the oldest Christian house of worship ever discovered! To be honest, while [...]
I just found out that Yochanan Muffs z”l passed away. He had been ill for many years and in the past few weeks his condition deteriorated. I think that Muffs is one of the few scholars who could appropriately be called a giant of biblical scholarship and theology. His writings range from Studies in the [...]
The Forward has a positive review of Norman Solomon’s The Talmud: A Selection. Despite the large amount of enjoyment that I get from Woody Allen and Seinfeld, I couldn’t help thinking about how unsubstantiated this one paragraph sounded to me. The reader ought to be told, even in summary form, how the centuries that Jews [...]
Recently Profs. Yair Zakovitch and Avigdor Shinan began to teach a class in Tanakh to members of the Knesset. Guess who came to the first class out of intellectual curiosity and a desire to understand more about Judaism and enjoyed it? The Arab member of Knesset Masud Ganaim. Who isn’t happy about it? Shas. Go [...]
The Talmud Department of the Jewish Theological Seminary is pleased to present Professor Shamma Friedman Benjamin and Minna Reeves Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, JTS Director, The Saul Lieberman Institute of Talmudic Research Speaking on: The Debate over Maimonides’ Reservations regarding the Study of Talmud Monday, December 14, 5:30 pm Private Dining Room
After reading this depressing article, what this article describes keeps sounding better and better, although employment-wise it seems to be like jumping from one pot of ice water to another.
It seems that Otzar ha-Hochma knows no rest. It was apparently a typo. See here for a previous round of criticism.
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