My 5-part lecture series on the Hertz Chumash, the Living Torah, the Adler Machzor, the Birnbaum Siddur, and three iterations of the RCA Siddur is now available on YouTube, courtesy of Torah in Motion.
Click here to watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL6g0lC7vbk&list=PLGQrWlI7O–7UBUXISJJvrbuLaDfyS-A2
I have a new article in the Winter issue of Jewish Review of Books. In an issue rightfully devoted to Israel, my article is a diversion from the main event, but hopefully a worthwhile one.
I consider the life and literary legacy of Avram Davidson, Jewish, and perhaps one of the most unusual science fiction and fantasy writers of the 20th century, shortly after what would have been his 100th birthday.
As the editors write: “Gods in fishbowls, men who are apes, and a Jewish dentist abducted by aliens: the fantastic fiction of Avram Davidson was almost as strange as his life.”
Read on to find out more.
You can download a PDF of all 4 parts of my series at this link: https://18forty.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Who-Wrote-the-Siddur-Series.pdf
The final articles in my siddur series are now available at 18Forty:
The second article in my siddur series for 18Forty is up! It discusses prayer traditions in the Land of Israel and how the poetry composed there became an important part of our prayers, even as it was marginalized by some:
https://18forty.org/articles/did-all-jews-pray-the-same-in-ancient-times
I wrote a series of articles on a topic I’ve been fascinated with for years: how did the Jewish prayer book, or siddur, come to be?
My first article is available here at 18Forty: https://18forty.org/articles/who-wrote-the-siddur/.
There will be a total of 4 articles that will be released over the next few weeks.
For anyone interested in watching/listening to my series for Torah in Motion on the Origins of the Oral Torah, all four classes are available on their website here: https://torahinmotion.org/programs/e-tim-the-origins-of-the-oral-torah.
And, of course, the articles I wrote on the topic are available at 18Forty: https://18forty.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Lindell-Origins-of-Judaism-Full-Series-1.pdf.
Mention of the korban pesach (the paschal sacrifice) seems largely absent from the Haggadah. Why might this be the case? And perhaps it’s more present than it might seem at first. Read on at the Lehrhaus:
I recently delivered a lecture for Torah in Motion. The topic, based on an article I wrote a few years ago, is “Are Pesach Guides Getting Stricter?”
Watch here to find out the answer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v0wC0_YGDg&list=PLGQrWlI7O–5pxcpKfSuRHMWpl95YSZTX&index=5&ab_channel=TorahinMotion
New article! This time at the Seforim Blog: https://seforimblog.com/2023/03/when-meir-kahanes-father-translated-the-torah/.
I write about an unusual translation of the Torah from 1963. While most translators try to approximate the meaning of the Hebrew, that’s not what happened here. Read the article to find out more.
With essay #5, my series on the origins of the Oral Torah for 18Forty is complete. Please click here to read it:
https://18forty.org/…/the-history-of-halacha-torah-today/
This installment deals with the vexing question: why does very little of the detailed halachic system found in the Written or Oral Torah appear to have been observed in biblical times?
Also, click here to view a PDF of the entire series: https://18forty.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Lindell-Origins-of-Judaism-Full-Series-1.pdf
Part 4 of my series on the Oral Torah is up at 18Forty!
When German Reform rabbis challenged the Talmudic Sages’ interpretations of the Torah, Orthodox rabbis found creative ways to argue that the Sages’ interpretations were logical after all.
Stay tuned for part 5, the final installment, coming soon!
Part 3 of my series on the Oral Torah continues at 18Forty!
This time–and yes, the articles are getting longer–we tackle the question of dispute in halacha, or machloket.
If everything was given at Sinai, why do the rabbis argue about nearly everything?
My 2nd essay (out of 5) on the Origins of the Oral Torah for 18Forty is now live.
What did the Sages, or Chazal, say about how much of the Oral Torah was given to Moses at Sinai?
Read on to find out more.
Yosef Lindell 