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Cain, Curse

The אוֹת (ʾOt) of Cain, Rahab, and Shabbat: Stop Looking for Signs!

Cain receives an ʾot from YHWH to protect him after killing his brother. Moses encounters an ʾot at the burning bush. Shabbat is called an ʾot between God and Israel. Rahab demands an ʾot to save her family during Israel’s conquest. And Isaiah offers King Ahaz an ʾot to calm his fear of invasion. But what exactly is an אוֹת (ʾot)?

Dr.

Idan Dershowitz

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Prof.

Na’ama Pat-El

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Sodom and Shechem: Villages, Not Cities

After Cain is exiled for killing Abel, he founds the first עִיר (ʿir), usually translated as “city.” But the biblical depictions of Shechem and Sodom, and the archaeology of ancient Israel, show that the average ʿir was a “village” or “town” at most.

Dr.

John W. Herbst

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Cain, Son of the Fallen Angel Samael

What made Cain capable of murdering his brother? Why was the flood generation so wicked? According to Pirqei de-Rabbi Eliezer, the fallen angel Samael embodies the serpent and seduces Eve, whereupon she conceives Cain. Engendered by this “bad seed,” all the descendants of Cain become corrupt, destined to be wiped out by mighty waters.

Prof. Rabbi

Rachel Adelman

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Eve’s Voice Is the Inclusio to the Cain and Abel Story – Maybe It’s Her Story Too

A mother’s joy, loss, and recovery serves as an etiology of human grief.

Dr.

Fran Snyder

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Poetic Laws

A fresh look at the legislation in Parashat Kedoshim: Are we reading the legal details wrong? 

Dr.

Jason Gaines

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Noah’s Original Identity: The First Winemaker

Before Noah became the protagonist of the Israelite flood story, his original place in Israelite historiography was as the ancient farmer who discovered wine, bringing the world relief from the toil of work caused by God’s cursing the soil.

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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