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Torah, Immutable

Purim: Mocking Persia’s Dat and Reaccepting the Torah

Pettiness and personal agendas characterize Persian law, called dat in the book of Esther. The Talmud, on the other hand, presents the Torah as ʾeshdat, given with “white fire etched on black fire,” and imagines the Jews in Shushan reaccepting the Torah after being saved from Haman’s dat to destroy them.

Rachel Friedman

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Did God Originally Intend the World to Be Vegetarian?

In the creation story, God tells humans to eat plants. Only after the flood, does God permit them to eat animals. Interpreters have understood this to mean that vegetarianism was God’s original plan for humanity. Gersonides found the claim that God changed His mind scandalous, but this is more about countering Christian claims than the simple meaning of the text.

Prof. Rabbi

Marty Lockshin

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