In the rabbinic worldview, man goes through life surrounded by temptation. The world is a place where temptation lurks on every street corner, at every table, and at every moment. For the rabbis, Torah – both Written and Oral – is the solution to controlling the yeẓer (יצר), the inclination to act on one’s desires. The ability to control on…[Read more]

This essay explores how changing the subject can function as a valid legal process in classical rabbinic literature. In order to do so, it first establishes standard rabbinic legal procedure, in which the legal reasoning for arguments is debated and either supported or refuted. Next, it discusses cases that do not fit this pattern: namely, those…[Read more]

Imagine it is the year 209 C.E. You are a disciple in a rabbinic circle located in a city in Palestine. Your rabbinic mentor invites you to a banquet that he is hosting in celebration of his son’s wedding. Do you bring your wife?
In essence, this is the question that I seek to answer in this essay. Were women present at such commensal e…[Read more]

This article traces the evolution of Qumran studies from its inception in controversy into a field that is a model of interfaith collegiality and cooperation. A correlation is drawn between three phases that have been perceived in this evolutionary process, and developments in the scholarly consensus about the identification of the communities of…[Read more]

מגילות: מחקרים במגילות מדבר יהודה ז [ Meghillot: Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls VII ]. Haifa University and Bialik Institute, 2009 Pages: 157-190