Norwuz & Whitefish

Norwuz & Whitefish

We all know that the Chinese celebrate their New Year with the Moon-but there are other cultures which celebrate it with the Sun.  Namely, Zoroastrianism which was historically practiced in Persia (modern-day Iran).  Zoroastrianism still persists to this...
Hymn to the Setting Sun (Assyrian)

Hymn to the Setting Sun (Assyrian)

O Sun, in the middle of the sky, at thy setting,may the bright gates welcome thee favourably,may the door of heaven be docile to thee.May the god director, thy faithful messenger, mark the way!In E-Bara, seat of thy royalty, he makes thy greatness shine forth.May...
Divine Court: Hittite Prayers

Divine Court: Hittite Prayers

The structure and rationale of a Hittite prayer is best understood as the enacting of a case in a divine court. This accords with the typically Hittite way of approaching all relations between two parties in legalistic terms. The defendant is the king, the prosecutor...
Creation

Creation

Sanhedrin 65b:18 “The Gemara relates another fact substantiating the statement that the righteous could create a world if they so desired: Rav Ḥanina and Rav Oshaya would sit every Shabbat eve and engage in the study of Sefer Yetzira, and a third-born calf [igla...
Rabbi Avner: The Sinner

Rabbi Avner: The Sinner

Moses ben Nachman, commonly known as Nachmanides, and also referred to by the acronym Ramban, was a leading medieval Jewish scholar in the 13th century, in Girona, Catalonia. He had a disciple, Avner, who strayed from the path of observant Judaism, left his community...