I have read hundreds of Rashbam’s insights into verses and know him well as a peshat, (literal) commentator, one of the earliest in the Ashkenazic
Most of us will be surprised to learn that the widespread custom today to repeat the verse (or phrase) started about 100 years ago, based
After the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, Josephus went to Rome. Vespasian gave him lodging in the house which Vespasian had occupied before
This week, I will discuss some controversial passages in Josephus (1st century CE): Persecution of Antiochus: Scholars have debated what motivated Antiochus to issue his
Josephus is our main source for much of Jewish history in the last centuries of the Second Temple period. Who was he? Do we have
Periodically, I come across insights that do not warrant an entire column, but that I would like to share: Cereal: This word derives from “Ceres,”
I have previously written about his diary that began in 1895 and his political activities, thereafter, until his death in 1904. But what about his
Isaac Newton (died 1727) was one of the most influential scientists of all time. He was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, philosopher and theologian. The
Reviewing: “Karaism: An Introduction to the Oldest Surviving Alternative Judaism” by Daniel J. Lasker. Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, Liverpool University Press. 2022. English. Hardcover.
One meaning of the root פרשׁ is “to separate.” We know this root well from rabbinic Hebrew: e.g., הפרישׁ, in the context of maaser and
By Mitchell First Here, we have a statement by Bilam: “Hashem elokav imo, u-teruat melech bo” Hashem—His God—is with him, and the “teruah” of a
I thought it would be interesting to discuss and provide excerpts from this work. Herzl was not the first to write in the post-Emancipation period
