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Messiah


A Meditation on <i>Maoz Zur</i> A Meditation on Maoz Zur
Monday, December 10, 2012 by Ismar Schorsch | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

In this 1988 essay, Ismar Schorsch writes that the much maligned final stanza of  Maoz Zur, which calls for divine retribution against Israel’s enemies, illustrates a distinction between redemption within history and the ultimate redemption, which must come from without.
Clothes Make the Man Clothes Make the Man
Friday, December 7, 2012 by Chaim Saiman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

The recent daf yomi Shabbat 63 appears to present just the technicalities of what can and cannot be transported on Shabbat.  Yet it is simultaneously an exploration of war, peace, and the nature of manhood.
Editors' Picks
God's Children James Tabor, Taborblog. Angels, anointed kings, and the Children of Israel are all called sons of God in the Bible—without its implying that they share in God's divinity.
"Are you the Messiah?" James Tabor, Taborblog. Scholars have long dismissed Jesus' self-identification as the Messiah, related in Mark, claiming that his followers called him the Messiah only after his death.  But the sources suggest otherwise.
The Festival of Exile Adin Steinsaltz, Jewish Journal. The story of Megillat Esther, says Steinsaltz, "looks like a simplistic melodrama" but "takes on a serious meaning as the mirror of Jewish history."
Rain Check Arnold A. Lasker, Daniel J. Lasker, Conservative Judaism. The date on which we begin praying for rain is based on Iraqi agricultural cycles and a calendar mistake.  But it’s not likely to change before the Messiah comes.