The concept of Shemittah – the Jewish Sabbatical Year – includes among other things a provision to release people from debts owed to others. Though clearly a noble and moral sentiment, such a law can easily lead to problematic situations and even exploitation. Levi Cooper delves into one possible solution to this issue, provided by a 2000 year-old legal loophole…
We decided to examine the manuscript that boldly violated the explicit commandment: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness”
Were they men or women, rabbis or sorcerers, legal experts or ignoramuses?
On a few occasions, the illustrious Rabbi Yosef Hayim of Baghdad cited a mysterious source whose name and work had never appeared anywhere else…
Check out these clips featuring four of the most stunning and interesting Torah scrolls from the National Library of Israel collection
The story of how the most zealous of the biblical prophets ended up becoming everyone’s most anticipated Passover dinner guest
This long-forgotten Passover custom was dealt a bitter blow by a sharp wife in a 15th century Haggadah…
Published in 1820, the work contains some surprising, candid views on science, faith, women, and more…
The only known manuscript of The Chronicle of Pope Paul IV is at the National Library in Jerusalem…
A 10th-century Karaite scholar was somehow able to conceive a vision of Noah’s Ark that made use of advanced technology that was unknown in his time
