Arab Attitudes to Israel Remain Constant, Despite Israeli Political Upheavals
Normalization is becoming normal.
January 24, 2023
Discovering the Bible’s Interconnected Narratives
The best way to read one book of the Tanakh can be through the lens of another.
The opening verse of the book of Esther states that the Persian king Ahasuerus ruled over an empire of 127 provinces. The number 127 occurs in only one other place in the Hebrew Bible: it is the age at which Sarah dies. To Alastair Roberts, this small detail invites readers to see various similarities between the matriarch and the book's titular heroine. Likewise, the story of David has numerous parallels to that of Jacob, a comparison that, Roberts argues, can illuminate the story's complex political message. Although Roberts is a Protestant theologian and scholar, his method of reading the Bible by examining similarities among its passages has much in common with the approaches of ancient, medieval, and modern rabbis. In conversation with Rabbi Ari Lamm, he investigates some of these readings. (Audio, 78 minutes.)
January 24, 2023
Through Evangelism and Settlements, Iran Is Remaking Syria in Its Image
A situation that could encourage unending war.
After Taking a Stand, Harvard Surrenders to the Israel-Haters
A university can fire a professor for heresy, but can’t refuse to hire someone who spent his life libeling Israel.
Discovering the Bible’s Interconnected Narratives
The best way to read one book of the Tanakh can be through the lens of another.
Mordecai Kaplan’s Reflections on American Jewish Apathy
What the diaries of Reconstructionism’s founder reveal.