Menstrual Impurity, Talmud “Rabbi Zera merely describes a stringent practice which Babylonian Jewish women had taken upon themselves” Author Drew Kaplan Date 16 April 2018 This term, first used by medieval commentators (see Zimmerman, p. 27, note 6), is,...
Jews “The phenomenon of a minority people arising out of the ashes of Auschwitz to reframe not only their world but to also profoundly impact the broader culture may best summarize this century of Jewish influence” Author Drew Kaplan Date 10 April 2018 …out of the trauma and tragedy of the earlier decades of the 20th century,...
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...
Jewish Community, Jewish Organizations, Jewish schools, Jews in America “Our criminal justice system punishes only the clearly guilty, and our media absolves only the clearly innocent — but that does not tell us whom our schools, synagogues and other institutions should employ” Author Drew Kaplan Date 26 March 2018 We have to think long and hard as a community as to how we...
Jewish Education, Jews in America, Philanthropy, Tzedakah “Are there assumptions – correct or incorrect – in Jewish communal life that ‘the community’ is supposed to be the principal fiduciary in the financial needs of Jewish households?” Author Drew Kaplan Date 22 March 2018 I’ve been thinking about the implied economy in educational institutions, especially as it is...
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...
Beer, Bible, Exodus, Passover “…the substance now rendered as “that which is leavened” (Exodus xii. 19) was, in reality, the Hebrew beer…” Author Drew Kaplan Date 21 March 2018 …the substance now rendered as “that which is leavened” (Exodus xii. 19) was, in...