Rabbi Michael Leo SamuelWhy did 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiba die [1]?
This is a question that has always fascinated me since the days I was a young rabbinical student in Israel. According to rabbinical tradition, it is because R. Akiba’s students failed to display proper respect to one another. Another ...
A reader may wonder: What was wrong with Cain’s sacrifice?
Professor Robert Alter writes that the biblical narrator used several techniques to convey meaning, e.g., statements by the anonymous narrator, by God, by heroes or heroines, by verbal clues, by juxtaposition of material, by characterization, and by effects of actions. Applying ...
Learn More ShareDespite some ambivalence Maimonides felt about the institution of animal sacrifices, the great Jewish philosopher argues that animal sacrifice can reflect a noble impulse that pushes one to give one’s very best in areas that go far beyond the cultic sector.
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