Index of Non-Talmud Posts
For index of Talmud posts, see here.
By Primary Work - Bible, Mishnah, Midrash, and More
Bible
Deuteronomy
[Appendix 4 -Biblical Verses relating to Adultery and a Non-Virgin Bride (Deuteronomy 22:21-24)]
Jeremiah
Daniel
Ezra
[Appendix 2 – Ezra’s Genealogy, Journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, and His Mission (Ezra 7:1-11)]
Mishnah
Challah
Pesachim
Yoma
Shekalim
[Mishnah Tractate Shekalim: Featuring Reader-Friendly Formatting, Summaries, and Tables]
[Case Study: Shekalim 6:3 – "The 13 Gates of the Temple Courtyard: Locations, Names, and Functions"]
Sukkah
[Appendix 3 - Occasions of Festival Flute Playing in the Temple (Mishnah Sukkah 4:1, 5:1)]
Sukkot in the Second Temple: Rituals of the Lulav, Willow, and Water Drawing Ceremony (Mishnah Sukkah 4:4-5:4)
Rosh Hashanah
Ta'anit
[Mishnah Tractate Ta'anit: Featuring Reader-Friendly Formatting and Summaries]
Megillah
Chagigah
Ketubot
[Seven Duties the Wife Must Perform for Her Husband (Mishnah Ketubot 59b)]
Nedarim
[Case Study: Nedarim 6:1-7:2 – "Restricted and Permissible Foods in Vows: A Guide to 46 Cases"]
Sotah
The End of an Era: The Mishnah on Societal Decline and the Discontinuation of Rituals (Mishnah Sotah 9:9-15)
”On Whom Can We Rely?” Literary Laments of a Fallen Society in the Mishnah (Mishnah Sotah 9:15)
Kiddushin
‘Tractate Kinyanim’: Modes of Acquiring People, Livestock, Land and More (Mishnah Kiddushin 1:1-6)
Sanhedrin
[List of Transgressions Liable for Death by Stoning (Mishnah Sanhedrin 7:4)]
[Appendix 1 - Liability and Execution for Sexual Transgressions (Mishnah Sanhedrin 7:4)]
Avodah Zarah
Avot
[Torah, Reward, and Ethics: Tractate Avot, Formatted and Annotated]
Tripartite Aphorisms: From The Men of the Great Assembly to Rabban Gamaliel’s Dynasty (Mishnah Avot 1:1-2:4)
[Appendix - More Of Hillel’s Aphorisms (Avot 2:4-7)]
Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai and His Five Disciples: On the Best and Worst Ethical Paths (Avot 2:8-9)
Tannaitic Aphorisms (Avot 2:10-4:22)
Aggadic Lists of Ten, Seven, Four, and Two Items in Tractate Avot Chapter 5 (Avot 5:1-19)
Eduyot
[Appendix: Five Divine Punishments of Twelve Months' Duration (Mishnah Eduyot 2:10)]
[Appendix 4 - Circumcision and eating the Passover sacrifice (Exodus 12:48; Mishnah Eduyot 5:2)]
[Appendix - Akavia ben Mahalalel’s Dissent and Legacy (Mishnah Eduyot 5:6-7)]
Arakhin
[Appendix 2 - Daily and Festival Music in the Temple (Mishnah Arakhin 2:3)]
[Case Study: Arakhin 3:1-5a – "A List of 5 Fixed and Variable Financial Penalties and Costs"]
[Case Study: Eduyot 5:1-4 – "17 Issues Where Beit Shammai is Lenient and Beit Hillel is Strict"]
Keritot
[Case Study: Keritot 1:1 – "List of 34/36 Transgressors Subject to Spiritual Excision (Karet)"]
Bekhorot
Body, Blemish, and Temple Duty: Physical Deformities that Disqualify Priests from Serving (Mishnah Bekhorot 7:1-6; Leviticus 21:18-20)
Tamid
Middot
Kelim
[Mishnah Tractate Kelim Chapters 1-4: Featuring Reader-Friendly Formatting, Summaries, and Tables]
[Hierarchy of Ritual Impurities: 11 Levels of Sources and Methods of Conveyance (Kelim 1:1-4)]
[Case Study: Kelim 1:6-9a – "The 10/11 Levels of Holiness in the Land of Israel and the Temple"]
[Case Study: Kelim 2:3 – "Earthen Vessels Not Susceptible to Impurity: A List of 14 Items"]
[Appendix #2 - Ritual Impurity of Professional Tools (Mishnah Keilim 16:6-7)]
Yadayim
[Appendix 1 - ‘On that day they were counted and they decided’ (בו ביום נמנו וגמרו): Footbath and ‘Midras’ Impurity; Disqualified Sacrifices (Mishnah Yadayim 4:1-2)]
Jerusalem Talmud
Terumot
Ancient Standoffs: Five Talmudic Stories of Tense Encounters Between Jews and Romans (Jerusalem Talmud, Terumot 8:4, 11-15)
Chagigah
From Alexandria to Ashkelon: Talmudic Stories About Yehuda ben Tabbai, Shimon ben Shetah, and Hasidim (Jerusalem Talmud Chagigah 2:2, #5-6)
Yevamot
Four More Stories Relating to Remarriage (Jerusalem Talmud Yevamot 16:4.2-9.2)
Tosefta
[Appendix 1 - Excerpts from the corresponding Tosefta (Tosefta Sotah 3-4)]
[Appendix 2 - Outline of the corresponding Tosefta (Tosefta Sotah 3-4)]
Mekhilta
[Appendix - Pharaoh’s Reversal and Its Theological Echoes (Mekhilta Beshalach 1:1)]
Bereshit Rabbah
Avot DeRabbi Natan
[Thirteen Biblical Figures Born Circumcised (Avot DeRabbi Natan 2:5)]
Soferim
[Appendix 4 - Textual Variants Found in Three Torah Scrolls in the Second Temple (Soferim 6:4)]
Maimonides
Intro
The 40-stage, 1800-year chain of transmission of the Oral Law From Sinai to the Redaction of the Talmud According to Maimonides’ Introduction to Mishneh Torah
Laws of Foundations of the Torah
[Appendix #1 - The Angelic Hierarchy (MT, Laws of Foundations of the Torah, 2:7)]
The Celestial Spheres According to Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah (Laws of Foundations of the Torah 3:1-9)
Laws of Sanctification of the New Month
[Appendix #2 - The Complexity of Lunar Calculations and the Universality of Astronomical Truth (MT, Laws of Sanctification of the New Month, 17:23-24)]
Jewish Studies - especially Talmud and Digital Humanities
ChavrutAI
Proposal for ChavrutAI: An AI Chavruta for Studying Talmud
Designing ChavrutAI: Building a Customized Talmud Interface for the Digital Age
ChavrutAI Web App in Progress: Advancing the Vision of a More Accessible Talmud
ChavrutAI Talmud Web App Launch: Review and Comparison with Similar Platforms
Naming, Onomastics, and Biography in the Talmud
Posts discussing the study of names (onomastics):
"On the historical accuracy of Talmudic biographical details and stories"
"Some Non-Jewish Historical Proper Names Mentioned by Name in the Talmud"
"“Appropriate Names”: The Interplay of Aptronyms, Pseudonyms, and Epithets in the Talmud"
"A Prospectus for a Large Language Model (LLM) to Facilitate Researching Rabbinic Onomastics"
"A Century of US Names, Pt 1: Male Monikers with Hebrew Bible, Greco-Roman, and Germanic Roots"
Digital Layout of the Talmud and other Rabbinic Texts
"Scripting the Talmud Part#2: Automated Rashi Text Extraction and digital layout of tzurat daf"
"Scripting the Talmud: Automated Talmudic Text Extraction and Formatting"
Digital Resources for Jewish Studies
Posts discussing various digital resources for scholarly study of Jewish texts and topics:
Guide to Online Resources for Scholarly Jewish Study and Research - 2023
Workshop: Editions of Classical Jewish Literature in the Digital Era
Selected recap from the 3-day workshop, “Editions of Classical Jewish Literature in the Digital Era”
Medieval Jewish Literature
Maimonides' Omissions: Explaining Exclusions from Mishneh Torah
The Geonic Bracha on Virginity (ברכת בתולים)
Jewish Studies General - Book Reviews, Conferences, Taxonomy
“Jewish Studies books on Amazon Kindle: A Discussion and Recommended Titles”
Charting Jewish Studies: A Taxonomy for the 21st Century
I'm going to European Association for Jewish Studies (EAJS) annual conference in Frankfurt
Modern Jewish Culture, Halacha, and Apologetics
Study of Modern Jewish Culture and Literature
Posts that explore Modern Jewish culture, identity, and literature from various perspectives:
Notes on some Literary forgeries of Jewish works in the Late Modern Period (1756-1965)
Notes on controversies, polemics and bans in Modern Jewish history
The Satmar Rebbe, R' Yoel Teitelbaum: Reviewing his Biography, Beliefs, and Controversies
Faith in Flux: Voices from the Fringes of Ultra-Orthodox Judaism
Yeshivish Dialect in the Landscape of Generative Artificial Intelligence
Speaking During Sacred Silences: Interjections between Netilat Yadayim and Hamotzi
Halacha and Artificial Intelligence
AI Self-Reflection: ChatGPT4’s Stance on Assuming the Role of a Rov
The Intersection of Halacha and Artificial Intelligence - Pt#2
Adventures in ChatGPT-4 and Pesak: A Confluence of Technology and Tradition
Religious Philosophy and Apologetics
Posts that discuss or critique religious arguments, beliefs, or practices:
The Kuzari Argument: A central claim in Ultra-Orthodox Apologetics
Ultra-Orthodox Apologetics: Some Notes on R’ Ahron Lopianski’s Lecture Series “Da Ma Shetashiv”
Ultra-Orthodox Tensions: The Sefaria Controversy and the Struggle Between Tradition and Modernity
General - Not Jewish Studies
Artificial Intelligence - General
Personal - About Me
Technology and Lifestyle
Posts discussing aspects of technology and lifestyle:
Recommended books - General
Personal Genealogy and Family History
Posts delving into my family history and genealogical research: