Posts by Julia Blum

Capital Letters The High Holidays are upon us, and my upcoming posts will be dedicated to the Fall Feasts. This month, however, I can still indulge myself with my favourite topic: showing my readers the hidden gems of the Hebrew Scriptures, the amazing things that are lost in translation. Last time we spoke about Jacob; […]

There is a meaningful interval in the Biblical calendar: from Shavuot and the presentation of the first-fruits on the 6th of Sivan, till the blowing of shofar on the 1st of Tishrei, there are almost four months – and right now we are in this interval. Therefore, I can allow myself to remind you all […]

Nowadays, almost everyone uses Google Maps for navigation, but around twenty years ago, when the first GPS, or navigation devices appeared, when an object was located on it, a flashing red dot appeared on the screen and there were different options to zoom in or zoom out. Usually, you would be interested in the “street […]

TL;DR: The blog post explores the relationship between Passover, Easter, and the Hebrew calendar, with a focus on debating whether the Last Supper was actually a Passover Seder meal. Dear friends, you might be surprised by this title: both Passover and Easter have passed already, so why would I write about it now? Why, indeed? […]

My dear readers, we have entered the month of Nisan – the first month of the Biblical calendar – and of course, this month is all about Passover: both the first Passover and the Passover week 2000 years ago. However, since the current format of this blog doesn’t allow me several articles, I’ve chosen to […]

My dear readers, every year I write here about Purim, and every year I discover something new about this fascinating festival. Today, we will start with a very simple question (although the discourse this question leads to is not simple at all): Why is there a masquerade on Purim? Why do we dress in costumes […]

TL;DR: Rachel, Jacob’s beloved wife, was likely 22 years old when Jacob first met her, while Jacob himself was approximately 77 years old, based on a careful reading of biblical genealogies and timelines. YOUNG FAMILY? Last time, we spoke about Leah, who was “hated”—not chosen. The last one of the four mothers, Rachel is depicted in […]

When we spoke about Rebecca, we saw an interesting detail in her story. At the end of Genesis 24, we are told that Isaac loved Rebecca (יֶּאֱהָבֶ֑הָ) – and this is the very first time the verb “love” (in Hebrew ahav) occurs in the Torah in a romantic sense, as referring to a relationship between […]

My dear readers, today we are going to talk about one of my favorite characters in the Bible. Of all the four matriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel), Rebecca’s personality is the most fully defined and described in Scripture. First, we see Rebecca as a young girl; then, she is a wife and a pregnant […]

Dear friends, we are back to our “Three plus Four” series and are now moving to the “Four” part: the Matriarchs. You know, when I started to write this series, the title just “popped up” in my head, seemingly randomly. However, the more I’ve thought about it during these last months, the more meaningful and […]