The Latest From Mark
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Does the Great Rabbi Akiva Have Feet of Clay? The Oven of Akhnai, Part II
The first half of the Talmud’s Oven of Akhnai narrative ends with the death of R. Gamliel, implicitly as punishment for his humiliation of his colleague, R. Eliezer. The deliberate humiliation of another Jew is a grave crime under Jewish law, and when Gamliel ignored God’s warning he was appropriately punished. The conclusion of this
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Part 2 of My Conversation on the “Design and Religion” Podcast
I earlier participated in a three-way conversation with Dr. Philip Jones, a retired Presbyterian pastor, and Van Sedita, a Christian layperson (previously posted), regarding the primary themes of my book. There, it became apparent that many of theological tensions that I have found in Judaism were also present in Presbyterianism, including whether it is possible
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Judaism is Open-Minded and Pluralistic
There is a famous Talmudic story that I believe does not get enough attention, as it exemplifies Judaism’s liberal (old, classic sense) character. It recounts (b. Eruv. 13b) that there was a three-year halakhic (legal) dispute between the academies of Hillel and Shammai, two great sages who emerged in the immediate aftermath of the Second