The Jewish Studies Blog

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Unusual Guest: The Message Of The Broken Bread

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 […]

Purim: The Masquerade And Beyond

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 […]

Three Plus Four: Rachel

YOUNG FAMILY? Last time, we spoke about Leah, who was “hated”—not chosen. The last one of the four mothers, Rachel is depicted in Genesis as Jacob’s beautiful and beloved wife—the one whom he had chosen from their first encounter. The story of Jacob’s passionate love for Rachel is one of the most romantic stories in the […]

Three Plus Four: Leah

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 […]

Three Plus Four: Rebecca

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 […]

Three Plus Four: Sarah

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 […]

The Unfolding Mystery Of The Fall Holidays

My dear readers, since I publish my posts only once a month now – and this is a very special month indeed – I will discuss all the Fall holidays in this article. We are in the Hebrew month of Tishrei, the seventh month in the Hebrew calendar. As you all know, the number seven […]

Three Plus Four: Jacob

My dear readers, we are still in the “three” part of “THREE PLUS FOUR” series. Our final installment of this part is about Jacob the Patriarch. Today, we will dig into the story of his way back to the Land of Israel after 20 years of exile – and will discover the amazing details and even […]

Three Plus Four: Isaac

We continue our “THREE PLUS FOUR” series, and we are still in the “three” part: the Fathers. Last time, we spoke about Abraham; today, we will speak about Isaac. I remind you that my task here is not to draw a full biblical portrait – especially now, when the posts are being published once in […]

Three Plus Four: Between Natural And Supernatural

We continue our “three plus four” series, and this is my second post on Abraham. Today, with the help of Hebrew, we will see some additional insights into this amazing character. As we all know, Abraham was a man of faith, following God unquestioningly – and in this sense, many things in his life were […]

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