Some corners of the world are quite excited about one of the recent archaeological discoveries to come out of Israel. In an archaeological dig at Khirbet Qeiyafa, which is not far from where we lived for a few years, what may turn out to be the oldest evidence of written Hebrew on pottery has [...]
Revach has a post about placing the eating hot food on Shabbat in the context of Rabbinic polemics against those who opposed the eating of hot food on Shabbat, beginning with the Sadducees. (hat tip) See this post from Chabad for a similar interpretation. While there is an explicit discussion of Sadducean [...]
A new book on the subject, The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide
This textbook by Germany’s most interesting New Testament scholar and his assistant is likely to become a standard work on Jesus. After surveying the quest for the historical Jesus, it assesses the sources, non-Christian and Christian, for Jesus. Then it examines the historical, chronological, [...]
Ishim ve-Shitot has some comments on, and refers us to, an interesting post at Biblicalia about the conversion of the Patriarch Hillel II as described in the writings of Epiphanius of Salamis. There is a discussion of the story here in French. I’ll try and find some time to look it over later. [...]
R. Josh Waxman has the latest in piety requirements for airplane travelers. This gemara which I learned this morning seems to be an appropriate comment.
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סוטה דף כב עמוד ב
ת”ר, שבעה פרושין הן: פרוש שיכמי, פרוש נקפי, פרוש קיזאי, פרוש מדוכיא, פרוש מה חובתי ואעשנה, פרוש מאהבה, פרוש מיראה. פרוש שיכמי [...]
Rogue Classicism has the latest on the cinematic production “Hadrian”, starring Daniel Craig.
It is well-known that the Mishnah in Sanhedrin 3:3 states that dice players are invalid witnesses. If you were wondering what one of these dice may have looked like, here is one that was for sale at an auction a few years ago. It sold for $17,000.
(hat tip)
For more on the subject see Joshua Schwartz, [...]
The third part of Lee Levine on the Ancient Synagogue can be found here. (hat tip) See this earlier post on the subject.
A few facts about Viagra:
1. Last week marked ten years since its use was cleared by the FDA.
2. It was discovered by accident. Researchers at Pfizer were working on a cardiovascular drug. (see here)
3. Alan “Ace” Greenberg, the former chairman of Bear, Stearns, donated one millions dollars so that elderly men [...]
I would say that this is big news. From the JTA:
University of Vienna archeologists unearthed an amulet in a third century grave bearing the Shema prayer. The find in eastern Austria represents the earliest sign of Jewish inhabitants in present-day Austria, the university said in a news release.
The silver amulet contains a gold [...]
You are currently browsing the archives for the Ancient Judaism category.