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

Part 1 concluded by raising some questions about Maimonides’ rationalistic reading of the Parable of the Illuminated Fortress. In Part 2 we will now deal with alternative interpretations based 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