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Jerusalem Talmud

 תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי

Did Ezra Reconstruct the Torah or Just Change the Script?

In the second century C.E., 4 Ezra and Irenaeus tell a story of how the Torah was burned by Nebuchadnezzar and reconstructed by Ezra through divine inspiration. Rabbinic texts know of this tradition, but in their version, Ezra’s contribution is changing the Torah into Aramaic writing, or even Aramaic language.

Dr.

Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg

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Jacob’s Funeral and Esau’s Last Stand

Esau’s attempt to block Jacob’s burial at the Cave of Machpelah ends in his gruesome death.

Dr.

Malka Z. Simkovich

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Shankbone and Egg: How They Became Symbols on the Seder Plate

The Talmud requires having two unspecified cooked dishes to be eaten as part of the Passover meal. How did this requirement develop into the custom of placing two particular symbolic foods, the shankbone and the egg, on the seder plate?

Dr. Rabbi

Joshua Kulp

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Walled Cities “from the Time of Joshua” Celebrate Shushan Purim – Why?

Hidden behind the strange rabbinic definition of walled cities is a polemical response to the notorious claim of Emperor Hadrian, who rebuilt Jerusalem as the pagan city Aelia Capitolina.

Prof.

Eyal Ben-Eliyahu

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Yom Turyanus: The 12th of Adar

The mysterious Jewish holiday in rabbinic times that begins and ends with the execution of two brothers.

Prof.

Vered Noam

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Dancing Erotically with the Golden Calf

And Moses’ decision to break the tablets

Dr.

David Ben-Gad HaCohen

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