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"Luke Ford reports all of the 'juicy' quotes, and has been doing it for years." (Marc B. Shapiro)
"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff) LATEST POSTS:
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Tag Archives: bible scholar
Is James Kugel Orthodox?
James Kugel is a famous Bible scholar who takes unorthodox approaches to understanding the origins of the Torah. Dr. Marc B. Shapiro says in a 2007 lecture for Torah in Motion on Rabbi David Zvi Hoffman: “The idea that the … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, James Kugel, Marc B. Shapiro
Tagged bible scholar, James kugel, louis finkelstein, Marc B. Shapiro, shomer, torah in motion, umberto cassuto, unorthodox approaches
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Conspiracy Theories
I grew up in a world immersed in conspiracy theories. I grew up in Seventh-Day Adventism, one giant conspiracy theory (lifestyle SDAs are the least likely to believe in such theories and the most likely to achieve in the world … Continue reading
Posted in Adventist, Conspiracy
Tagged bible scholar, conspiracy theories, conspiracy theorists, giant conspiracy, lee harvey oswald, sabbath keepers
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Was Bible Scholar Nechama Leibowitz A Feminist?
Rabbi Gil Student writes: The main question discussed is Nehama’s relationship with feminism. On the one hand, she was a female Torah teacher long before they became common, as they now are in some communities. And she was such a … Continue reading
Posted in Feminism, Orthodoxy
Tagged bible scholar, blu greenberg, gil student, nechama leibowitz, nehama, religious emotion
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Is Bible Scholar James Kugel A Heretic?
Daniel writes on Hirhurim: Some comments seemed to indicate that Professor Kugel is Shomer Mitzvos. However, if he does not believe in Torah min HaShamayim, then I do not see how he can fully believe (if at all) that the … Continue reading
Posted in James Kugel
Tagged bachur, bible scholar, frum skeptics, intellectual system, sefer hayashar, yisro
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Nehama Leibowitz Biography
From Urim Publications: We are pleased to announce the release of Nehama Leibowitz: Teacher and Bible Scholar. Professor Nehama Leibowitz (1905–1997), winner of the Israel Prize in Education, was a unique figure in the twentieth century Jewish landscape. She wrote … Continue reading
Posted in Torah
Tagged bible scholar, israel prize, more than thirty years, nehama leibowitz, torah scholar, weekly torah portion
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Reconsidering Bible Scholar James Kugel
From Hirhurim: R. Dr. Moshe Bernstein, a Professor of Bible at Yeshiva College, writes a very eloquent (and surprisingly forceful) opinion piece on the Kugel incident (link) in the current issue of The Commentator (link): Why Lines Need to be … Continue reading
Posted in James Kugel
Tagged bible scholar, Hirhurim, James kugel, professional colleague, yeshiva college, Yeshiva University
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James Kugel – Heretic?
Dr. Kugel, Bible scholar, was the target of a well-received (in Orthodox circles) pamphlets warning Orthodox parents about the dangers of sending their kids to secular universities. Anyone who thinks that Modernity and Orthodoxy are compatible is not Modernity and … Continue reading
Posted in James Kugel
Tagged bible scholar, critical scholarship, James kugel, orthodox circles, orthodox judaism, orthodox rabbis
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‘The Tenacy of Unreasonable Beliefs’ II
Here’s the second part of my interview with author Solomon Schimmel. bRead reviews of the book "The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs: Fundamentalism and the Fear of Truth" here. Solomon: "To the extent that I am ethical and moral — I … Continue reading
Posted in Author Interviews
Tagged adult education committee, bible scholar, classical reflections, fundamentalism, James kugel, orthodox judaism, orthodox shul, righteous man, Solomon Schimmel, tenacity
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You Can Be Modern Or You Can Be Orthodox Or You Can Lie To Yourself And Others
There is no way to reconcile Orthodox Judaism with modern disinterested scholarship. You can be Orthodoxprax (practice Orthodox Judaism while keeping your heretical views to yourself) but then you are not honest to the religion you practice. Orthodox academics making … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Orthodoxy
Tagged bible scholar, intellectual discourse, James kugel, orthodox judaism, stern college, Yeshiva University
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‘Many Non-Jews Regard This Psalm As Sacred’
During the third meal of the Sabbath (when the sun is going down Saturday evening), traditional Jews sing the 23rd Psalm in Hebrew (along with Yedid Nefesh and the Grace After Meals). Now picture an Orthodox shul where everyone’s enjoying … Continue reading
Posted in Synagogue
Tagged bible scholar, Dennis Prager, herman wouk, john updike, morning prayers, orthodox shul
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