The Strange Biblical Mandate to Count Weeks
This article appeared in my book “Mysteries of Judaism” where I point out that all the biblical holidays were changed radically by the early Israelites, Pharisees, and later rabbis. The following...
View ArticleThe odd practice of starting a holiday a half a day early
The odd practice of starting a holiday a half a day early The Bible requires the Israelites to observe Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month,...
View ArticleDemons and Sympathetic Magic in the Passover Seder
Demons and Sympathetic Magic in the Passover Seder We saw in the prior articles that the belief in demons, the power of sympathetic magic to conjure the...
View ArticleDemons and Sympathetic Magic in the Passover Seder
Demons and Sympathetic Magic in the Passover Seder I spoke in the past about the ancient Jews believing in demons, the power of sympathetic magic (doing...
View ArticleWhy Was the First Passover Different From All Other Passovers?
Why Was the First Passover Different From All Other Passovers?...
View ArticleThe current holiday of Passover is not a biblical holiday
The following essay is from my book “Mysteries of Judaism.” The current holiday of Passover...
View ArticleCounting the Omer is not a biblical practice
The following is chapter 8 in my book “Mysteries of Judaism.” My followup book “Mysteries of Judaism II: Why the rabbis and others changed Judaism” is arriving in the US within days. If you want either...
View ArticleA fun Haggadah even for the non-observant Jew
The Dry Bones Passover Haggadah[1] The Passover meal called Seder, meaning “order” and referring to the sequence of fifteen practices...
View ArticleNachmanides’ Unique View of Passover
Some may say that the mystic Nachmanides was more interested in heaven than earth. Unlike Maimonides, who focused on a scientific study of the world, Nachmanides was concerned with the way in which...
View ArticleSenator Lieberman teaches the value of Torah law
Senator Joe Lieberman and Rabbi Ari D. Kahn offer readers fifty essays in “With Liberty and Justice.”[1] The number is built on the brilliant rabbinical idea to connect the holidays of Passover and...
View ArticleWhy was the first Passover different from all other Passovers?
Why was the first Passover different from all other Passovers? By Israel Drazin The Israelites’...
View ArticleOriginal ideas about Passover
The Origin of the Seder The Passover Rite and early Rabbinic Judaism By Baruch M. Bokser Jewish Theological Seminary Press, 2002, 188 pages This reprint of the 1984 classic by Professor Bokser...
View ArticleRabbi Soloveitchik on Passover
Review by Israel Drazin Festival of Freedom Essays on Pesah and the Haggadah By Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Ktav Publishing...
View ArticleAn unusual haggada
By Israel Drazin The Bird’s Head Haggada By K. Mosele and L. Birkinshaw The Israel Museum and Koren Publishers, 2012, 66 pages ISBN 978-965-301-1045 This very clever, instructive, and colorful...
View ArticleWhy Was The First Passover Different From All Other Passovers?
Why Was The First Passover Different From All Other Passovers? The Israelites’ first Passover, celebrated in Egypt just prior to the exodus and described in Exodus...
View ArticleWhen is Passover?
When is Passover? The question “When is Passover?” seems as simple as the humorous question, “Who is buried in Grant’s...
View ArticlePassover ceased to exist
The following article is from my recent book "Mysteries of Judaism" where I showed that every biblical holiday is not observed today as mandated in the Bible....
View ArticleThe mystery of the first Passover
The following article appeared in my book “Mysteries of Judaism” where I showed that all the biblical holidays, without exception, were changes by the early Israelites, Pharisees, and later rabbis. I...
View ArticleDemons and magic in the Passover Seder
There is probably no more meaningful and enjoyable service than the Passover Seder. The word “Seder” means “order.” The Seder service is arranged and celebrated in the Jewish home by the family to...
View ArticleOur Passover is not the biblical Passover
The following is part of a chapter from my book Mysteries of Judaism 1 in which I explain that every Jewish holiday, without exception, differs with what the Bible mandates. In fact, several biblical...
View ArticleA dead holiday called Passover passed on its name
The biblical holiday Passover ceased to exist when the temple was destroyed in 70 CE. It disappeared entirely and Chag Hamatzot’s name was changed to Passover. The biblical Passover The biblical...
View ArticleTwo biblical holidays celebrated at the same moment
There are rabbis and scholars who are convinced that half of the biblical holiday of Passover was celebrated during the biblical holiday of Chag Hamatzot. The problem I heard a rabbi and professor...
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