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Contributor: Ben Zion Katz

Maimonides on Free Will, Divine Omniscience and Repentance

Maimonides on Free Will, Divine Omniscience and Repentance

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The problem of reconciling the notions of man’s free will and Divine omniscience is an ancient one. As early as Mishna Avot 3:15 Rabbi Akiva states that “everything is known [by God] but permission (i.e. free will) is given [to people]”. Maimonides begins to tackle this question in his Laws of Repentance (הלכות תשובה) from Book One (The Book of Science סּפּר המדע) of the Mishnah Torah. In chapter 5 paragraph 5 Maimonides brings up the conundrum of Divine Omniscience…

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The Missing Nun Verse in Ashrei

The Missing Nun Verse in Ashrei

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There are several alphabetic acrostics in the book of Psalms. These acrostics are found in Psalms 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119 and 145. Only three of these are complete acrostics – i.e., acrostics in which every letter of the alphabet is represented. Psalms 111 and 112 begin each half verse with the succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet following the psalm’s first word (Halleluyah). Psalm 119 is an eight-fold alphabetic acrostic with 176 verses. Psalm 34 is portrayed as…

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Shnei Zeitim: Two Olive Branches – Piyut by Solomon Ibn Gabirol

Shnei Zeitim: Two Olive Branches – Piyut by Solomon Ibn Gabirol

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Two olive branches cut down in the garden will again produce fresh, pure olive oil , For the leaders of the Kohatites and the Ephratites will be crowned as one . They will shine like candles on the holy Menorah – There in the camp opposite the menorah, they shined! The son of Ephrat whose ornament was cut off and then dried up Has now become the anointed one for those who were laid low and directionless . Recall the…

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The Breadth of Rabbinic Opinion Regarding Mosaic Authorship of the Torah in the Middle Ages

The Breadth of Rabbinic Opinion Regarding Mosaic Authorship of the Torah in the Middle Ages

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Arguably, Orthodox theology today is much narrower than what was acceptable in the Middle Ages. For example, ArtScroll is editing Rashbam’s (Rabbi Samuel ben Meir, ca 1080 -1174) more radical comments out of their new edition of the Rabbinic Bible (Mikraot Gedolot). In this paper, I will discuss a dramatic example of Biblical exegesis, which could even be considered within the realm of so-called “higher Biblical criticism”, and the implications of this exegesis re medieval Jewish theology. Numbers 21:1-3 describes…

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Don’t Oppress the Ger

Don’t Oppress the Ger

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The Torah in Motion blog by Rabbi Jay Kelman discusses the daily daf as well as the parashah of the week. When reviewing Baba Metzia 59, Rabbi Kelman mentioned that the Talmud stated that there were 36 or 46 places where the Torah commands not to oppress the stranger/convert (ger), but that he was not aware of any list of the verses in question. This paper is an attempt to generate such a list. We will begin with the Talmudic…

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Between the lines of the Bible by Yitzchak Etshalom – book review

Between the lines of the Bible by Yitzchak Etshalom – book review

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Ben Zion Katz is the author of the forthcoming book A Journey Through Torah: A Critique of the Documentary Hypothesis (Urim Publications, Fall 2012) Between the lines of the Bible: Exodus: A study from the new school of Orthodox Torah Commentary, by Yitzchak Etshalom (Urim/OU Press, NY 2012) is a thought-provoking look at the second book of the Torah. One can tell that its author, a Rabbi and Tanakh educator in North America, is a dynamic teacher, because the book…

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