The ancient rabbis believe in two worlds: their present, lived reality, which they refer to in Hebrew as ‘olam ha-zeh, or “This World”; and a future, not-yet-experienced realm, which they call in Hebrew ‘olam ha-ba’, or “The World to Come.” It is in ‘olam ha-ba’ that the just receive their divine reward and the wicked incur their divine punishment…[Read more]

Advances in archaeology and carbon-dating contribute to our understanding of the biblical text’s
historical context, of daily life in ancient Israel, and of the provenance of inscriptions. All of this
information (seemingly) makes us better readers of the text with greater understanding of the text’s
context, but does it? Have we become com…[Read more]