Tag Archives: Ovadia (Prophet)

Understanding Mashiach ben Yosef, Part 2

What does the Talmud really mean when it mentions a dying messiah? Why did Maimonides completely ignore this Talmud when codifying Jewish law? And did the death of Jesus have anything to do with the subsequent destruction of the Jerusalem Temple? Find out in this class as we continue to explore the ancient sources about Mashiach ben Yosef. Plus: who are the 15 ancient souls that return to help Mashiach? What did King Solomon say about the Torah of Mashiach? And who is the mysterious Rabbi Dosa?

For Part 1 of the series, see here.
For more on Judaism vs. Christianity, see here.
This class is based on a set of essays in the recently-published third volume of ‘Garments of Light’, available on Amazon and here.

Greatest Women in Tanakh

In this week’s parasha, Pinchas, we read about the righteous daughters of Tzelofchad. Recall that the five daughters (Machlah, Noa, Haglah, Milkah, and Tirzah) had no male siblings, and their father had passed away, so they inquired about their inheritance. Are daughters allowed to inherit? It might sound like a straight-forward “yes”, but it was much more complicated in ancient Israel. Continue reading →

The Kabbalah of Yom Ha‘Atzmaut

This Wednesday, the 5th of Iyar, is Israel’s Independence Day, Yom Ha‘Atzmaut. That the State of Israel was born on this date in particular is no coincidence. On the surface, the reason it happened on this date is because that was when the British Mandate expired, and was the earliest opportunity for the Zionist leadership to declare independence. Behind this, however, there is a far deeper mystical reason. Continue reading →