Study the Torah with Academic Scholarship

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Biblical Law, Development

Laws of the Firstborn: How They Were Connected to the Tenth Plague

The sacrifice of firstling animals and redemption of firstborn sons were originally not related to the exodus story. When they were linked to the tenth plague, the narrative was adjusted to have YHWH also slaughter the Egyptian firstling animals.

Prof. Rabbi

David Frankel

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There Was Never One Version of the Bible

During the Second Temple Period, scribes improved and embellished the texts they copied. As a result, divergent copies of biblical books existed side by side.

Prof.

Carol A. Newsom

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The Paradox of Pesach Sheni

As a historical commemoration, Passover is tied to a specific date. Nevertheless, the Torah gives a make-up date for bringing the offering a month later. Gerim, non-Israelites living among Israelites as equals, are also allowed to bring this offering, even though it wasn’t their ancestors who were freed. How do we make sense of these anomalies?  

Prof.

Steven Fraade

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Do Biblical Laws Reflect a Tribal Society?

Was Israel ever a tribal society? Although some scholars accept the Bible’s depiction of Israel’s pre-monarchic society as a confederation of tribes, others have dismissed this as ahistorical. Can a study of biblical law help us resolve this question?

Prof.

Rami Arav

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The Evolution and Innovation of Pesach Sheni

Dr. Rabbi

Stephen Garfinkel

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The Prohibition to Carry on Shabbat: Historical and Exegetical Development

The Shabbat laws offer an instructive model for how Jews in antiquity engaged in creative reinterpretation of biblical texts in order to expand their limited application and to ensure that their customary practice comported with their sacred texts.

Dr.

Alex P. Jassen

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Judaism Without Sinai?

The Sinai theophany is virtually absent from the Bible outside of the Torah and the very late book of Nehemiah. This absence reflects an alternative tradition that sees Israel’s laws as deriving from multiple small revelations from prophets throughout history. 

Prof. Rabbi

David Frankel

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Prohibition of Meat and Milk: Its Origins in the Text

The Torah states “do not cook a kid in its mother's milk.” What does this phrase mean, and how did it develop into the prohibition of mixing meat and milk?

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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