In a recent issue of Ha-Ma’ayan, Rabbi Dr. Israel Meir Levinger wrote an article (Hebrew) about scientific findings relating to the absorption and expunging by vessels. This is potentially very important for issues of Kashrut. In the most recent issue there were a number of responses. The original article and the responses raise a number [...]
Haaretz is reporting about a new scholarly article that claims to have shown that European Jews are indeed descended from the Khazars. The author of the article, Eran Elhaik, claims the following: My research refutes 40 years of genetic studies, all of which have assumed that the Jews constitute a group that is genetically isolated [...]
A recent article in the NYT on prayer at the Kotel included the followed statement. Jewish law requires only men to pray daily, though many women have taken on the obligation voluntarily. This statement is simply incorrect. While there are disagreements about the extant and frequency of a woman’s obligation to pray, almost every Jewish [...]
Just Published! The Status of Women in Jewish Law: Responsa Special Introductory Offer until Passover The Status of Women in Jewish Law: Responsa, David Golinkin, Jerusalem: The Center for Women in Jewish Law at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, 2012, 413 pp.; hardcover, $25, special offer: $20 plus shipping Click here to order The [...]
The Academy of the Hebrew Language has been increasing its web presence recently. They have an updated web site, along with a Twitter account, and a Facebook page. Today they posted a link to a post (Heb.) from their website that explains the history behind the modern Hebrew phrase, כחוט השני. The phrase occurs twice [...]
In a recent tweet, Rav Tzair called attention to a post on a new Hebrew language Iranian news site that quoted the Rabbinic publication Teḥumin. שרת החוץ הישראלית לשעבר ציפי ליבני הודתה כי עסקה בזנות וביצעה מעשים לא מוסריים עם כמה מנהיגים ערבים במטרה לסחוט אותם כדי לשרת את בטחונה של ישראל, ליבני בראיון לשבועון [...]
If you happen to be in Jerusalem on מוצאי חג המולד, this may be of interest.
Approximately twenty years after a number of scholars upped the ante in their pressure to release to the public the Dead Sea Scrolls, the battle for public access may have truly come to an end. From Haaretz: The Israel Antiquities Authority and Google Israel launched the Dead Sea Scrolls digital library on Tuesday. The library, [...]
From Academic Studies Press: Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Buber were giant thinkers of the 20th century who made significant contributions to the understanding of religious consciousness and of Judaism. They wrote on various subjects, such as the Bible, the commandments, Hasidism, Zionism and Christianity. Though they had much in common, they also differed on [...]
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