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Exile

Diaspora as a Strategy for Jewish Survival

Jacob’s standoff with Esau, including dividing his camp in two so that if one should be attacked, “the camp which is left shall escape” (Genesis 32:9), is seen as a precursor and strategy for Jewish survival throughout the generations. This story and verse played a significant role in the attitude of Orthodox Jewry toward America.

Prof.

Malachi Haim Hacohen

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Rachel Weeps in Ramah: Of All the Patriarchs, God Listens Only to Her

Rachel weeps over her exiled descendants and God hears her plea (Jeremiah 31:14–16). Expanding on this passage, the rabbis in Midrash Eichah Rabbah envision Jeremiah awakening the patriarchs and Moses to plead with God to have mercy on Israel. Upon their failure to move God, the matriarch Rachel intervenes successfully.

Prof.

Hagith Sivan

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The Origins of Torah Study

A Post-Destruction model of Jewish Identity: Reading and studying Torah as if our life depended on it.

Prof.

Jacob L. Wright

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God Goes Down to Egypt with Jacob: A Story for the Exiles

God tells Jacob, “I Myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I Myself will also bring you back” (Genesis 46:4), a reassurance intended to speak to readers in the exilic period.

Prof.

Yairah Amit

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Turning Jeremiah’s Land Deed Into an Oracle of Hope

Jeremiah 32 describes the prophet’s redemption of his uncle’s ancestral land. The scribal authors turned this transaction into an oracle. Eventually, the passage was expanded to include a prayer in which Jeremiah invokes the exodus from Egypt and the gift of the land. Taken together, the passage inspires hope for exilic Jews that God will redeem their land as well.

Prof.

Mark Leuchter

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Dating Deborah

The Song of Deborah (Judges 5) is often seen as an ancient text, perhaps one of the oldest in the Tanach, but analysis of its language and contents suggests that it is a later Deuteronomistic composition.

Dr.

Serge Frolov

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The Good Land of Israel

What are the favorable qualities of the land of Israel, and what is God’s relationship to it?

Prof. Rabbi

David Frankel

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Comparing Curses

Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 are often lumped together, as the two great curses, but their careful comparison reveals some fundamental and surprising differences.

Prof.

Marc Zvi Brettler

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For Whom Does Rachel Weep?

Before the destruction of Judah in 586 BCE, Jeremiah wrote a series of oracles consoling his northern brethren. After the destruction of Judah, a supplementary layer was added to console the southern Judahites as well.

Prof.

Marvin A. Sweeney

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