YHWH instructs Moses to carve a second set of tablets and come up the mountain (Exodus 34). YHWH then presents a set of laws, including: Don’t intermarry with the Canaanites; don’t make idols; and do observe Matzot, Shabbat, Shavuot, Ingathering, and Passover. What is the nature of this collection of laws?
Dr.
Tina M. Sherman
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The Bible contains numerous references to ceramic pots, bowls, jugs, and other types of dishes. What do we know about these vessels?
Dr.
Nava Panitz-Cohen
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I don’t defend the Torah’s ostensibly immoral laws, but I do try to understand what motivated them.
Dr. Rabbi
Eliezer Finkelman
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Deuteronomy uses unusual parallel terms “the shegar of your herd and the ashtorot of your flock” to describe the offspring of livestock. These are names of the ancient West Semitic fertility goddess known as Ashtoret or by her less familiar bi-name Sheger. Her consort is (sometimes) the god Ashtor. What do we know about these deities and what do they have to do with livestock?
Prof.
Aaron Demsky
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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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...but who inspired whom?
Prof.
Carl S. Ehrlich
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