There’s a Chance the Trump Administration’s Peace Plan Just Might Work
This time, will Arab states encourage Palestinians to say “yes”?
April 5, 2019
How the Talmud’s Depiction of Fetuses Learning the Entire Torah Differs from Its Platonic Parallel
An emphasis on human relationships.
According to a talmudic passage, a candle burning above the head of a fetus in utero enables it to “look and gaze from one end of the world to the other”; moreover, the fetus is taught the entire Torah. But at the moment of birth an angel smacks the child on the mouth, causing it to forget what it has learned. Inevitably, this teaching has invited comparison with Plato’s theory that the immortal soul is all-knowing, and that all learning is in fact recollection of what was once known. Alex Ozar argues, however, that the differences between the two teachings are more salient than their similarities:
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Login or SubscribeApril 5, 2019
The Syrian Civil War Is Coming to a Close, but Israel’s “Campaign between the Wars” Must Go On
Don’t count on Russian mediation.
A New Book about Zionism and the Left Misses the Big Picture
Problems “intrinsic to left politics rather than random aberrations.”
How the Talmud’s Depiction of Fetuses Learning the Entire Torah Differs from Its Platonic Parallel
An emphasis on human relationships.
A Painting Looted by the Nazis Returns to Its Rightful Inheritors
A Scholar Sharpening His Quill.