Today, I came across this quote from the famous science fiction author Robert Heinlein (1907-1988): “The Ten Commandments are for lame brains. The first five are solely for the benefit of the priests and the powers that be; the second five are half truths, neither complete nor adequate.” Taken strictly at face value, I can … More Lame Brains
French feminist Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) once wrote, “One can hardly tell women that washing up saucepans is their divine mission, [so] they are told that bringing up children is their divine mission. But the way things are in the world, bringing up children has a great deal in common with washing up saucepans.” It’s … More Washing Up Saucepans
All Mel Brooks jokes aside, what is a miracle? I recently came across this image on my X feed. It’s an excellent example of two things: first, that Western atheists specifically reject the Christian paradigm, and second the reality that Christianity is explicitly about placing faith over evidence. It is true that “miracle” can be … More It’s A Miracle!
Over in American Karaite Judaism (our FB group), we recently had a contentious and bizarre discussion of the twentieth verse of Ovadia. For reference, here’s the verse: This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan will possess the land as far as Zar’phat;the exiles from Jerusalem who are in S’pharad will possess the towns of the … More How Language Changes
I’ve seen a lot of former Christians struggle with how to approach the concept of forgiveness, both in terms of how Hashem forgives us for our misdeeds and how to approach forgiveness between individuals. The first thing to bear in mind is that we are not required to forgive wrongs. The second is that forgiveness … More Forgiveness
Some of the most significant and compelling arguments supporting the position that the TaNaKh is a fiction composed of multiple legends and tall tales are that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah do not agree with each other on when they occurred and the book of Esther doesn’t appear to agree with any part of … More Historicity of the Bible, Part 1
In 538, Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon, incidentally ending the Babylonian Exile. He died in 530, and was succeeded by Cambyses II. Cambyses died in 522, and was succeeded by his brother, Bardiya, for a few months. Darius the Great then became emperor after a coup the same year. Haggai’s prophecies occurred in … More Haggai
A popular objection to Judaism and to Torah, in general, is that there are too many rules, that the standard for being righteous is set so high that it is unachievable. Generally speaking, this argument originates with Christian reasoning for the necessity of a “new” covenant, although I’ve seen similar arguments made by some Jewish … More You Can’t Follow All of the Rules!
One of the more fascinating quirks of biblical phrasing is the tendency of the authors of the TaNaKh, to say nothing of its translators, to use intimate, emotional language to describe political decisions and actions, and to portray the following of tradition such that it can be attributed to chance. The stories of David ha … More The Hidden Story of Bathsheba
I frequently interact with people who are new to Judaism and Karaism, and it often happens that they ask me for book recommendations. The following are the books I recommend about Karaism in the order I would suggest reading them. As It Is Written. This is a slim volume containing a very basic introduction to … More A Reading List
Silver Trumpets 