The Jewish Studies Blog

High Holy Days: Gates Of Repentance

High Holy Days: Gates Of Repentance

The Wordless Cry   We just celebrated Rosh HaShanah – and it was indeed the most unusual Rosh Hashanah in Israel. Due to the coronavirus lockdown, we did not celebrate with relatives and friends; we couldn’t worship together; we couldn’t actually leave our homes! Almost everything about this year’s celebration was different – but amid […]

Rosh Hashanah: Happy Birthday, Humankind!

Rosh Hashanah: Happy Birthday, Humankind!

Shalom and Chag Sameach, dear friends! You probably know that here in Israel, we are entering a season called Chagim: Feasts, or Holidays. There are two Hebrew words that one commonly hears a during this season: Acherey Hachagim – “after the Holidays”. Everything is “frozen”, postponed, delayed for this time – but with a firm […]

Beginnings: Noah’s ark

Beginnings: Noah’s ark

We’ve been discussing the story of the Flood and touching different themes here. However, I think you all would agree that the Ark of Noah is at the very heart of this story. Therefore, it is the Ark that becomes God’s prophetic message to future humanity. In the old times, people would throw a bottle […]

Beginnings: Noah (2)

Beginnings: Noah (2)

A Preacher of Righteousness…. I would like to continue my train of thought from the previous post, where we noted that some Jewish sages compared Noah with Abraham, saying that, while Abraham interceded for the sinners of Sodom, Noah didn’t intercede for his generation. However, this is not what we find in the New Testament. […]

Beginnings: Noah

Beginnings: Noah

TL;DR: Noah was a man of grace in a corrupt world, and even his name—given by his father Lamech—carried a prophetic meaning of relief and comfort for humanity. As we  read  the beginning of Genesis 6, we were shocked by the description of the total evil and corruption of mankind. Then, in the midst of […]

Beginnings: The Story Of Flood (3)

Beginnings: The Story Of Flood (3)

The Watchers and the New Testament My dear readers, let me remind you why we discuss the New Testament on these pages if this whole series – BEGINNINGS – is supposed to be about the first chapters of the book of Genesis. When we entered Genesis 6 and I realized that most of my readers […]

Beginnings: The Story Of Flood (2)

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)

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)

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)

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 […]

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