December 10, 2023
In this TRADITION classic from our archives: Prof. Gerald Blidstein z"l offers possible explanations for Hazal’s suppression of the Jewish Hellenizers in the Hanukka story. Neither the Talmud nor the holiday prayers make reference to them even though the Book of Macabbees portrays Jewish Hellenizers as central to the story. Blidstein offers several tentative explanations for this omission including the possibility that Hazal did not want us to celebrate a civil war.
March 6, 2023
PURIM ARCHIVES: A freilichen Purim to TRADITION readers – Enjoy these Purim pieces from our archives…
December 18, 2022
In this TRADITION classic from our archives: Prof. Gerald Blidstein z"l offered possible explanations for Hazal’s suppression of the Jewish Hellenizers in the Hanukka story. In a subsequent exchange of letters, a writer claimed to find several references to the Hellenizers in Hazal and locates a hint to them in Al ha-Nissim as well. Blidstein’s response challenges the identification of the "zedim and temeim" with Jewish Hellenizers, arguing that these terms refer to the Greeks. The exchange includes insightful ideas about reading texts correctly.
December 1, 2022
What does a discredited theory of evolutionary biology teach us about Jacob’s attempt to influence the character of his flock’s offspring – and how did it play into a Cold War-era debate? Dive back into the TRADITION Archives to explore “Genetics and Jacob’s Goats” for this week’s reading of Vayetze (Gen. 30).