The Jewish Studies Blog

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Beginnings: The Story Of Flood (2)

My dear readers, since almost all the comments on my previous post declare that they don’t agree with me, I wanted to explain several things here. First of all, I am not trying to convince anyone of anything. Have you heard the expression: “Seventy faces of Torah”? It actually represents a Jewish view of Scripture: […]

Beginnings: The Story Of Flood (1)

The Enigmatic Passage Finally, after our long journey through Genesis 4 and 5, we are entering the story of the Flood. In chapter 6, we see the total moral failure of the human race. For many readers, however,  the beginning of this chapter presents one of the most enigmatic passages of the Bible: The sons […]

Beginnings: Overlooked Chapters (3)

Male and Female He Created Them  As we enter Genesis 5, we find here a long list of names and dates. This chapter traces the righteous line of Seth. Before we enter this list, however, I would like to bring your attention to the first two verses of this chapter: This is the book of […]

Beginnings: The Overlooked Chapters (2)

The Line of Cain  Last time we discussed the difference in the occupations of Cain and Abel, suggesting that Abel probably chose a wandering life since he was not willing to have his roots in the cursed land and fallen world, while Cain chose a settled life, enjoying the world as it was. We saw […]

Beginnings: The Overlooked Chapters (1)

When 2020 began, it seemed only natural to open the year with the series called “BEGINNINGS”. I wanted to discuss here in depth the primeval history—the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis. As most of my readers probably know, these chapters form a separate, integrated unit: while from Genesis 12 onwards, Scripture deals […]

Torah Portion In Real Time: Chukkat

My dear readers, as you know by now, from time to time I post a Torah Portion (Parashat Shavua) commentary here. Today, I would like to share with you the commentary on one of the richest portions in the Torah — Parashat  Shavua Chukkat (the reading for the last Shabbat). The Red Heifer: between life […]

Comparison Exersices (5): Jacob – There And Back 

Our last (for now) installment of this series is taken from the life of Jacob the Patriarch.  While comparing his way back to the Land of Israel with his journey out of the Land of Israel 20 years earlier, we will discover the amazing details – and even more amazing spiritual truths that these details […]

Comparison Exercises (4):  Two Epiphanies

Last time, we started to compare the circumstances of Sarah’s maid Hagar, Ishmael’s mother, in two different chapters of Genesis where she had experienced an epiphany: in Genesis 16, when Hagar was pregnant and fled from Sarah, and in Genesis 21, after she, and her teenage son Ishmael, had been banished from Abraham’s camp. We […]

Comparison Exercises (3): Two Epiphanies  

Our next comparison is taken from the story of Hagar – a very special biblical character.  Hagar occupies quite a unique place in the Bible for many different reasons: She is the first runaway slave; the first woman in Abraham’s family to conceive and carry a child; the first slave to be freed. What puts […]

Comparison Exersices (2): Laban’s Search Revisited

Our exercise today is taken from the famous story of Joseph and his brothers. You probably remember the story: the brothers come back to Joseph for the second time, this time with Benjamin, and after they had accomplished their mission, next morning they started their way back.  You probably also remember that not long before […]

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