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Ancient Israel


The Dead Sea Scrolls, Alive in Times Square The Dead Sea Scrolls, Alive in Times Square
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

In the basement of a converted theater on West 44th Street, tucked between the legendary Sardi's restaurant and a bowling alley, a block from Times Square and across the street from the musical Memphis, is Discovery Times Square.
Eating Your Values Eating Your Values
Friday, November 4, 2011 | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

The many Jewish laws regarding food—how it gets from the ground and into our mouths in a kosher manner—are central to Jewish life.  But what ethical framework underlies the system of kashrut? Maimonides' justifications for kashrut range from avoiding cruelty to animals and eschewing the idolatrous practices of antiquity to considerations of health.
Libya and the Jews Libya and the Jews
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

There are reasons for Jews to view the fall of Muammar Qaddafi with satisfaction: A bizarre and dangerous enemy of the West and Israel is on the verge of defeat, and the Libyan people may be on the threshold of freedom. But, as in Egypt, the second Arab Spring in Libya looks like a mixed blessing.
The New Biblical Archeology The New Biblical Archeology
Monday, July 25, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Every summer, the Israel Antiquities Authority holds a reception for foreign archeological teams excavating in Israel. This year's reception was attended by over 200 archeologists, who are investigating sites ranging in age from the Paleolithic through Islamic periods.
What is Aggadah, and How to Read It What is Aggadah, and How to Read It
Thursday, July 7, 2011 by Elli Fischer | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Although the Talmud is best known for its discourse on religious law, its pages contain a vast amount of non-legal material, including ethical teachings, interpretations of biblical narratives (midrash), and excurses on topics from brain surgery to dream interpretation.
Israelites in the Anglo-Saxon Sea Israelites in the Anglo-Saxon Sea
Friday, June 17, 2011 by David Curzon | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Since it was first composed, there have been dozens—if not hundreds—of renderings of the Hebrew Bible. The process of translation and creative elaboration began during the first millennium B.C.E.
Telling Jewish Time Telling Jewish Time
Monday, April 11, 2011 by Allan Nadler | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

The most acclaimed Jewish Bible commentary opens with a question. Why, asks Rashi (1040–1105), does the Torah begin with the account of creation, when it should properly have begun with God's revelation of His very first law to Moses on the eve of the Exodus from Egypt: "This month shall be for you the first of months"?
The Archeology War The Archeology War
Thursday, March 31, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

The Islamic Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) was founded in 1979 by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). It has three basic goals. The first is to spread a Saudi version of Koranic education throughout the Islamic world. The second is to publicize Islam to the non-Islamic world. The third goal is to oppose the "Judaization of Al-Quds"—i.e., Jerusalem.
Seeking Solomon Seeking Solomon
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 by Eve Levavi Feinstein | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

For traditionalists, the biography of King Solomon is enshrined in the Bible, in the narrative accounts in the books of Kings and Chronicles. The son of King David, who spent his career battling Israel's enemies, Solomon is depicted as ushering in an era of peace and prosperity. Yet the Bible also relates that Solomon took numerous foreign wives and concubines—one thousand in total—who led him to worship foreign gods and build shrines for their service.
Toward a Pluralistic Middle East? Toward a Pluralistic Middle East?
Thursday, March 17, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

As the Middle East lurches through the present confusion of civil war, revolution, and mass protest, decent people everywhere wonder about the chances of a more pluralistic and democratic order emerging. One way of measuring progress in that direction will be to track the treatment of minorities like the Berbers and the Jews.
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Editors' Picks
My Kingdom for a Horse! Ziony Zevit, Bible History Daily. The received wisdom holds that a horse was a rare sight in ancient Israel. But new scholarship reveals that a developed chariotry formed the military backbone of both the Judean and the Israelite monarchies.
Digging Tiberias Matti Friedman, Times of Israel. Long beloved of archeologists but overshadowed by more famous sites, the ancient metropolis of Tiberias is finally emerging from underneath soil, rubble, and the remnants of an old garbage dump.
Through First-Century Eyes Amy-Jill Levine, Marc Brettler, Jewish Journal. We can learn much about Jewish life from the earliest texts of the rabbinic period: the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo and Josephus, archeological material, and . . . the New Testament? (Interview by Shmuel Rosner)
Whitewashing Black-Jewish History Sivan Zakai, jweekly. Both African-Americans and Jews journeyed from slavery to redemption, ultimately united as allies in the civil rights era. It makes for an appropriate and inspiring school lesson. But is it good history?
Mincing Words Philologos, Forward. The Yiddish expression makhn ash un blote—"to make ashes and mud" or "to make mincemeat" of someone—exemplifies the influence of biblical idiom on Yiddish phraseology.
Vatican't Giulio Meotti, Ynet. Israel's decision to cede some sovereignty over the "Hall of the Last Supper" to the Catholic Church will only embolden the Vatican's campaign to appropriate Jewish Jerusalem.
The Original Kosher Jesus Fred MacDowell, On the Main Line. 150 years ago, Rabbi Elias Soloweyczk published commentaries on Matthew and Mark, aimed not at rejecting the Gospels but showing their concordance with the Talmud.
Kosher Jesus Gil Student, Torah Musings. Shmuley Boteach's strategy is a familiar one—reject the Gospels and strip Christianity of its beliefs. It is, in fact, an old form of polemic. (And Boteach's reaction to media coverage of his book is telling.)      
The Bad Samaritan Amy-Jill Levine, Biblical Archeology Society. You can't understand the story of the Good Samaritan without knowing that a Samaritan was the last kind of person to whom a Jew would look for help.
Analyzing Ashkelon Sam Roberts, New York Times. Science is revolutionizing the study of ancient Ashkelon—revealing mysterious cylinders as parts of ancient looms, proving that what we thought were palaces may really have been stables.