Holidays, Sukkot Considering the paradoxes of Sukkot Author Drew Kaplan Date 16 October 2019 I love the paradoxes of Sukkot: a holiday with profound universalistic theological overtones that...
Jews in America, Passover “Every Passover, we read the haggadah at the seder and we are reminded of the obligation to imagine ourselves being redeemed from Egypt…to a proud American Jew, living with equality and freedom, it seems impossible” Author Drew Kaplan Date 28 March 2018 Every Passover, we read the haggadah at the seder and we are reminded of...
Passover “The creators of the Mishnaic Haggadah structured it as a work of Greco-Roman rhetorical oratory, the most common and effective means of persuasion available in their culture…” Author Drew Kaplan Date 28 March 2018 The creators of the Mishnaic Haggadah structured it as a work of Greco-Roman rhetorical...
Passover “…scholars have argued that the Seder might be understood as a modified Roman symposium” Author Drew Kaplan Date 27 March 2018 For over half a century, scholars have argued that the Seder might be understood...
Beer, Bible, Exodus, Passover “…the Israelites departed from Egypt, a country where this bread-beer was the only obtainable or national alcoholic luxury, to the land flowing with milk, honey, and wine…” Author Drew Kaplan Date 21 March 2018 …the Israelites departed from Egypt, a country where this bread-beer was the only obtainable...
Beer, Bible, Exodus, Passover “…the words in Exodus xii. 19, “that which is leavened,” which in Hebrew are rendered מַחְמֶצֶת, or machmetzeth, was a beer similar to the modern Egyptian paste or bread beer…” Author Drew Kaplan Date 21 March 2018 …I contend that the words in Exodus xii. 19, “that which is leavened,” which...
Yom Kippur “I’ve noticed that Yom Kippur is the one day most Jews go to synagogue despite their level of observance, and I have no idea why” Author Drew Kaplan Date 29 September 2017 I’ve noticed that Yom Kippur is the one day most Jews go to synagogue...
Amoraim, Babylonian Talmud, Passover “Through their sharp political interpretations of the Passover story, Rav and Shmuel described the political condition of the Jewish people long after the Exodus from Egypt” Author Drew Kaplan Date 9 April 2017 In its transition from Joseph’s death to a new era, the book of Exodus...
Passover “I find Pesach stunning for its integrating the particular redemption story of a particular people into a moral message that is universal; or the reverse, routing a universal story into the particular story of the Jewish nation” Author Drew Kaplan Date 9 April 2017 I find Pesach stunning for its integrating the particular redemption story of a particular...
Passover “Pesach: better for peoplehood organizing, in my view, than community organizing…” Author Drew Kaplan Date 7 April 2017 I am not enamored by the politicization of Seder symbols into clear public policy...