5+ hour, 42+ min ago  (863+ words) Some of the world's most dangerous physical jobs include commercial fishing, logging, and mining. In the spiritual world, the role of mashpia or mashgiah carries its own unique set of dangers. The role of these individuals is to provide guidance…...

6+ day, 11+ hour ago  (612+ words) According to a new poll by the Public Religion Research Institute, 64% of Americans do not want to live in a primarily Christian nation. Instead, they prefer an America of many faiths without a Christian majority. For most of the last…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago  (305+ words) The Babylonian Talmud is a work beyond completion, which may help to explain why God invented not just Tosafot, but Aharonim, who weren't born in time to be called" Rishon, great rabbis who attempted to unravel the Kafka tried to…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago  (505+ words) Parashat Korach offers a fascinating glimpse into leadership, community, and the deep vulnerability of people who are afraid. Korach's rebellion is not only about ambition. It is about what can happen when a community feels worn down, uncertain, and mistreated…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago  (1363+ words) The Mal'ach Ha Mavet did its job slaying single cells, as the Lord had commanded, but its contribution to The Tree of Life didn't seem very important. Then sexual reproduction began. Now as generations died the gene pool was modified…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago  (1348+ words) In Part I and Part II of Religions as Blockchains, we explored how religious traditions and blockchain systems mirror each other in structure: genesis events, forks, schisms, competing claims of legitimacy, and evolving interpretations of foundational rules. But there is…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago  (393+ words) These are the books I'm reading and listening to: Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict, by'Yardena Schwartz The Art and Practice of Living Wondrously, edited by Dr. Ronit Ziv-Kreger There is definitely…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago  (873+ words) The Balcony and the Books The Times of Israel - Follow You will receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page You will no longer receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago  (1376+ words) At first glance, religion and cryptocurrency appear to have nothing in common. One deals with God, meaning, and tradition. The other deals with digital money, software, and mathematics. Yet beneath the surface, both face a remarkably similar challenge: How can…...

2+ week, 2+ hour ago  (806+ words) The Riemann Hypothesis is the most famous and important unsolved problem in mathematics, concerning the distribution of prime numbers. Mathematician Terence Tao has explained that the main obstacle to proving the Riemann Hypothesis is not a lack of effort, but…...