Heresy

Spinoza: Who Wrote the Bible Determines How We Read It

Baruch Spinoza was excommunicated for his controversial beliefs about Judaism, including his rejection of the tenet of Mosaic authorship. However, Spinoza’s real originality is his radical and innovative claim that the origin of the biblical texts holds great significance for how they are to be read and interpreted.

Prof.

Steven Nadler

Allegorizers of Torah and the Story of Their Prosecution in Languedoc (1305)

The attempt of the great Catalonian Sage, Rashba, to limit philosophic study and interpretation of Torah in Languedoc (southern France)^[1]and to excommunicate one of its well-known practitioners, Levi ben Avraham ben Hayyim of Villefranche-de-Conflent.

Dr.

Gregg Stern

The Potential Contribution of the Allegorical Interpretation of Tzimtzum to the Dilemma of Post-Liberal Theology

Prof.

Tamar Ross

The Song of the Well, Psalm 136, Was Removed from the Torah

Numbers 21:16–18 speaks about the Song of the Well, but only records a short snippet. Whereas most commentators assume that the song was simply very short, R. Yehudah HeChasid offers the radical suggestion that the song was actually cut from the Torah and placed in the book of Psalms by none other than King David.

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

The Exodus Story Is an Outer Garment

Rabbi

Herzl Hefter

Heretics, Mystics and Abraham's Mother

Rabbi

David D. Steinberg

“Cursed Is One Who Does Not Uphold the Words of This Torah”?

The anomalous and paradoxical nature of the twelfth curse (Deuteronomy 27:26).

Rabbi

Uzi Weingarten