Human Experience

A burnt offering, must be whole (תמים), after which it is dismembered (נתוח) and offered to YHWH. In the wake of the loss of my parents, I have come to appreciate how this process mirrors the creation story and life.

Statements that express our feelings are often confused with factual assertions.

A New Look at the Meaning of the Sotah and Nazir Rituals

Why can’t a man remarry his wife once she has been married to someone else?

The Torah requires all Israelite soldiers to carry a shovel with them for covering their feces, outside the war camp, because God is in the camp. Jewish interpreters have grappled with the meaning of this law: the Qumranites and Karaites assume feces must be impure, the rabbis extend the law to prayer and Torah study, and some medievalist interpreted the law homiletically, as a goad towards maintaining human decency at all times, even during war.

A Therapeutic Outlet for Terrible Pain

A Taunt So Cruel It Will Freeze an Enemy’s Blood

The midrashic Parable of the Illuminated Palace concerns Abraham and the existence of God. In Part 1, we looked at Maimonides rationalistic, Aristotelian approach. Alternative interpretations focus on the idea of an experiential, living relationship with God.

“God has not given you a mind to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear until this very day.”—Deuteronomy 29:3