A new exciting archeological discovery was recently announced – a small ancient tablet made of copper found on Mt Ebal, in Israel. The artifact was scientifically dated to the late Bronze age, maybe the 13th or 14th century BCE. That is quite old! The most exciting part is that the copper...
Israeli archaeologists working on a major Roman-era port city have unveiled new discoveries including an altar dedicated to Augustus Caesar and a centuries-old mother-of-pearl tablet inscribed with a menorah. The finds at Caesarea, a complex on the Mediterranean coast 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Tel Aviv, were the result...
In Matthew 5:13 Jesus said to his disciples, "You are the salt of the earth..." but what exactly did he mean by that? Look beyond the English idioms. Look deeper into history. Consider how ancient Greeks and Jews perceived salt in antiquity. What did salt mean to...
When I first heard that Robert Alter was working on translating the whole Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and I was thrilled that this brilliant scholar decided to undertake such a monumental task. Professor Alter is well-known for his attention to the literary features of Hebrew. When his translation came out, it...
> Why did the Star Wars Saga begin with Parts IV, V, and VI? In charge of planning, Yoda was! > Simon S. Star Wars0:00/1:321×If you are a Star Wars fan, you might be chuckling, right now. And if you are not a Star Wars fan...
Uncle Ben said to Peter Parker (Spiderman), “with great power comes great responsibility”. This is not a new idea. Parashat Emor (Leviticus 25) lists many privileges and responsibilities the priests must follow. What can we learn from these instructions?...
Torah describes daily obligatory offerings that God commanded to be brought on his altar (Numbers 28). They are called korban Tamid. They are but a token of what we owe truly owe God. But on Shabbat, God expected another offering - Musaf....
> Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire? > Corrie Ten Boom Steering0:00/1:281×This saying may sound like a cliche, but you have to consider who said these words. If you have never heard of Corrie Ten Boom, she was a Dutch Christian woman who...
This is a lecture by Daniel Matt a scholar of Kabbalah and a Professor at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He taught at Stanford University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Matt is a translator of the first nine volumes of the twelve-volume Zohar (Pritzker edition). In my...
