Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel
Torah from Alexandria, Volume I: Genesis
Reviewed by Rabbi Ari D. Kahn, Echoes of Eden on the Pentateuch
A very new, very old book has been published recently. Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel has set out to perform the herculean task of translating Philo ...
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The second volume of Torah from Alexandria demonstrates Philo’s full spectrum as a Jewish thinker, where he serves as a story-teller retelling the Exodus, a jurist and counselor in his analysis of the Decalogue and later commandments, and an allegorist in his interpretation of the Tabernacle and its vessels. The unfolding of Jewish tradition is evident in these passages, where sometimes Philo represents the earliest source of a famous rabbinic interpretation, while ...
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This past week, the Jewish Chronicle published a remarkable article that caught my attention that I would like to write about, which just appeared in the news for the first time.[1]
The time: 2012
The place: Modern day Amsterdam.
The event: A group of university scholars and leaders of the Amsterdam Jewish community meet to discuss the possibility of lifting a ban of excommunication made against Baruch Spinoza. This ban has been in effect for 356 ...
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The words of Sun Tzu convey new significance in light of President Obama’s disclosure. In his most recent speech, the ...
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I have been on vacation for the greater part of this past week. While I was away, I listened carefully to the news about a variety of social and international problems I will be addressing within the next several days.
As details of the Michael Brown murder become known in the news, the race riots continues in Ferguson. One witness who was walking with Brown at the time said that the victim raised his hands in ...
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