Posts by Julia Blum

As Christmas draws near, I would like to say a few words about this wonderful time of a year. Yes, we all know that the origins of Christmas cannot be traced back to either the teachings or the practices of the first believers, and yes, we also know that Christmas was not observed until about […]

WHERE IS THE MIRACLE? Today we continue our Hanukkah reflections. Last time, we followed the narrative of the First book of Maccabees, which recounts the events that Hanukkah commemorates. We saw that, after a series of battles, the Maccabees miraculously recaptured the Temple. They began to cleanse and restore it and were finally able to […]

Last year, Christmas and Hanukkah fell on the same day and therefore we didn’t have a chance to discuss Hanukkah at length and separately:  last year, my Hanukkah post on this blog  was called “Hanukkah reflections for Christmas” (https://israelbiblicalstudies.com/jewish-studies/hanukkah-reflections-christmas/ )‎.  This year, Hanukkah starts almost two weeks earlier (December 12th), so will discuss, in a couple […]

My dear readers, every time I use the PARDES technique, applying it to a particular Scripture text, I always tremble in excitement and anticipation when I reach the final level – SOD, secret or mystery. So far, I have never been disappointed: the things that are revealed on this level, for me, indeed have been […]

REMEZ Last time, we started to analyze the very controversial story of Abram’s going down to Egypt, in Genesis 12. We began to apply to this episode, four levels of Jewish Biblical exegesis, PARDES, and we spoke about the first level – PESHAT – the plain, literal meaning of the text. Today we will be […]

SHOULD ABRAHAM HAVE GONE TO EGYPT? Last time, we began discussing the Torah portion Lech Lecha – God’s call to Abraham and Abraham’s extraordinary obedience. However, as we all know, right after this incredible act of unreserved and complete obedience, just after he arrives in the Land, Abraham goes down to Egypt to escape famine. […]

TIKKUN OLAM BEGINS When we enter Torah Portion Lech-Lecha, an entirely new period begins. So far, we have seen God’s intervention in judgment: both in the flood and in the story of the tower of Babel, God punished man for his sin and rebellion. But when God called Abram, He personally and actively intervened in […]

TECHNICAL COMMAND OR THEOLOGICAL STATEMENT?   We continue our journey through this amazing Torah Portion. One more place in this Parashah became a great blessing for me. I was utterly surprised to find here  the root  -כפר – Kafar: יד  עֲשֵׂה לְךָ תֵּבַת עֲצֵי-גֹפֶר, קִנִּים תַּעֲשֶׂה אֶת-הַתֵּבָה; וְכָפַרְתָּ אֹתָהּ מִבַּיִת וּמִחוּץ, בַּכֹּפֶר. 14 Make thee an […]

Once again, we are going to talk about Torah Portion today. The second  Parashat Shavua of the year is Noach (Noah) Genesis 6:9-11:32. Everybody knows the story of Noah.  This is one of the first stories from the Tanach that parents tell their kids – and by the time they are adults, people usually have heard […]

As we already know, Sukkot is “the season of our joy” – and the joy of Sukkot reaches its peak during its final day – Simchat Torah. Simchat Torah (lit.: The Joy of Torah) is a holiday that marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah reading, and the beginning of a new cycle. The […]