Study the Torah with Academic Scholarship

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Asherah

Moses and Aaron Misuse an Asherah to Draw Water from the Rock

An offense against YHWH that explains the severe punishment of their exclusion from the promised land.

Prof.

Raanan Eichler

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Aaron’s Flowering Staff: A Priestly Asherah?

The story of Aaron’s staff reads like an etiological tale, explaining a holy object in the Temple. The description of the object as a stylized tree suggests a connection with the asherah, a ritual object forbidden by Deuteronomy.

Prof.

Raanan Eichler

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Nehushtan, the Copper Serpent: Its Origins and Fate

The Torah describes Moses building a copper serpent to heal the Israelites. According to Kings, Hezekiah destroys it because it was being worshiped. Archaeology and history clarify the religious and political meaning of this image.

Dr.

Richard Lederman

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Why Are There No Israelite Priestesses?

Hittite texts show us that in the ancient Near East, women, including the queen, served as priestesses. The biblical authors, in their fervor for YHWH, monotheism, and centralization of worship through one Temple and one priesthood, strongly objected.

Prof.

Ada Taggar-Cohen

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Dancing Erotically with the Golden Calf

And Moses’ decision to break the tablets

Dr.

David Ben-Gad HaCohen

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