It's here! Jeff Rubenstein on Simcha Gross , Julie Sugar with Susan suleiman , Matti Friedman rereads Orwell, David Wolpe reads Marilynne Robinson 'Rereading Genesis', Leon Botstein watches Leonard Bernstein and much MUCH MORE Jewish Review of Books

Passover is tonight!

Check out my article (or 🧵) on the origins of the Aramaic portion ('This is the bread of affliction') that begins the Passover Haggadah, & how over time its inclusion led to the introduction to the Seder of none other than...Elijah!

academia.edu/44600798/Whoev…

Ever wonder about the strange Aramaic invitation at the beginning of the Passover Haggadah?

Check out my piece in the newest issue of Jewish Review of Books!

Many thanks to Shai Secunda for his friendship and editorial wizardry!

jewishreviewofbooks.com/jewish-history…

Why do participants at the Passover Seder dip & remove 16 drops of wine when mentioning the plagues in Egypt?

The earliest explanations (c. 13th c.) make clear this is a kind of sympathetic magic: '[This custom] teaches us that we will not be injured [by the plagues].'

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Medieval Iranian Jewish local patriotism:

“When the Jews emigrated from Jerusalem (587 BCE) they carried with them a sample of the water & soil of Jerusalem...This they did all along until they reached the city of Isfahan.. [where] the water and soil.. both resembled Jerusalem.'

A medieval Aramaic bill of divorce for exorcising the demon Lilith:

'To the field Lilith and raider demoness. . . go in peace from the house of N daughter of N who was born of N and from her body. . . .' 👿👿👿

geniza.princeton.edu/en/documents/3…

Congratulations to my Penn colleague Anne Berg on the publication of her new book, Empire of Rags and Bones: Waste and War in Nazi Germany Currently available from Oxford University Press for a 30% discount (use promo code AAFLYG6)
global.oup.com/academic/produ…