Accoding to the Torah (Leviticus 23:40), the rituals of Sukkot include “taking” the fruit of a beautiful tree. What, exactly, fits this terse description is subject to dispute. Tradition maintains that the fruit in question is the citron, what the rabbis call...
Stylistically, biblical Hebrew frequently includes phrases that are parallels, especially in the poetic portions. And this is the simple and likely explanation for the verse (Deuteronomy 32:7): “Ask your father, he will inform you; your elders, they will tell you.”...
Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel Les Miserables serves as the story for one of the most successful theatrical musicals of all time, both on Broadway and London’s West End. But it also serves as a platform for considering a philosophical question about categorization. Jean...
As Moses nears his death, he continues to lecture the people on God’s expectations. It is what biblical scholar Professor Jeffrey H. Tigay calls “the summons to the covenant.” He assures the people that the content of the Torah is neither unintelligible nor...
The sages assert (Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 25a and parallels) that “the Torah was not given to ministering angels.” The implication is that human beings, unlike the angels, are creatures with desires which can sometimes motivate bad behavior. Given this condition,...
Historians and anthropologists do not dispute the antiquity of monarchal government, but there is neither consensus nor evidence for how kingships were first established. In his defence of the monarchy of his day, philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) argues...
A. J. Jacobs followed up his 2004 best-seller The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World with his 2007 book A Year of Living Biblically which was - rightfully - less well-received. Jacob’s first book chronicled his effort to...
Legal scholars distinguish between chattel and fixtures. Chattel refers to movable property like clothing and books; anything that can be removed without doing damage to physical property. Fixtures, on the other hand, are annexed to the realty, that is, permanently...
The Khaliver Rebbe, Rabbi Menahem Mendel Taub (1923 - 2019), knew much about suffering. In 1944, he was deported to Auschwitz, where he was an experimental subject of the evil doctor Josef Mengele. As a result of the mis-treatment he was forced to endure, he could...
Of all the books in the Torah, the fifth and final book covers the shortest period of time. Moses is nearing the time of his death. Taking the opportunity to address the people he led for forty years, he gives a series of lectures to prepare the people for life after...