#amoraim

This is a real thing that really happened (according to the Talmud, anyway). An extremely beautiful scholar (Rabbi Yochanan) convinces a bandit king (Reish Lakish, or Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish) to become his "study partner" and rejoin society as a well-respected scholar. This is a BL plot fr and yet no one has written that gay shit.

I with my students’ permission, I am recording my latest class and posting the videos to YouTube. In this series of classes, the intent is to explore the history of Jewish thought by looking at individual rabbis or key Jewish thinkers – who they are, the important aspects of their teachings, and the historical period in which they lived. This first session we begin by looking at the general…

The First Creation Story II-the sum of it.

From the previous post I think we established that what we have in the first creation story is a Poem of 7 verses, corresponding to the 7 days of the week, giving an orderly account of the material world, ‘finite’since God rested on the 7th Day from all the Work He had been doing, God enterered into the Universe.(See Rashi below). If you are an Israelite reader then“Genesis 1 isn’t just telling…

Who or What is Chazal?

Image: A page from a medieval Jerusalem Talmud manuscript. Found in the Cairo genizah. Public Domain.

“Chazal says…” a more advanced rabbinical students said to me, in answer to a question. I heard, “Chagall says…” and was very confused. I’d asked a question about halakhah (Jewish law) – why is he quoting a Jewish artist?

Chazal (Kha-ZAHL) is a word denoting all the sages, the ancient…

(Podcast 11.29.18) Intriguing Archaeological Discoveries and the Problem with Traditionalism

On this edition of the Bellator Christi Podcast, Brian Chilton discusses three archaeological discoveries related to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, a ring of Pontius Pilate, and a tiny “beka” stone. He will describe the findings and their relevance to the historicity of the Bible. Also, he will discuss three categories of ancient rabbis (the Sopherim, Tannanim, and the Amoraim), the major…

Woof woof!! Transform!