Tag Archives: Judaism

Book Review: Hebrew For Dummies

Posted on May 8, 2024 by nathanalbright

Hebrew For Dummies, by Jill Suzanne Jacobs This book is one that desperately wants to be hip and to show that a language that had been moribund for centuries, limited to liturgical use, had been resurrected like the Messiah as … Continue reading →

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A New Creature Or A New Creation?

Posted on September 24, 2023 by nathanalbright

[Note: The following is the prepared text for a split sermon given to the Portland congregation of the United Church of God on Sabbath, September 23, 2023.] When we deal with the subject of difficult scriptures, one of the categories … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Oppenheimer

Posted on August 7, 2023 by nathanalbright

What makes this film so compelling is not an easy thing to determine. In terms of its acting and directing and cinematography, this film is spectacular, which you would expect from a director of Christopher Nolan’s caliber. In many ways, … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Religious Study Of Judaism

Posted on April 20, 2021 by nathanalbright

The Religious Study Of Judaism, by Jacob Neusner One of the issues with this book, and many like it, is that the author thinks of himself as a sound historian of religion. It is immensely difficult to be a good … Continue reading →

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On Talmudic And Midrashic Reasoning

Posted on April 2, 2021 by nathanalbright

I had the chance to read (review forthcoming) a lovely resource on classical Jewish sources, and it led me to ponder what it is about such writing that I do and do not appreciate so much. In previous reviews about … Continue reading →

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On The Mysterious Appeal Of Haggadahs

Posted on March 25, 2021 by nathanalbright

One of the things that one notices if one does a large amount of religious reading, as I am prone to do, is that there are a lot of very similar books that one finds on certain subjects. There are … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Birnbaum Haggadah

Posted on March 25, 2021 by nathanalbright

The Birnbaum Haggadah, by Philip Birnbaum As someone who reads the Haggadah from a place outside of a Jewish background, I find the proliferation of Haggadahs and commentaries upon them to be somewhat fascinating and curious. It appears to me, … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Passover Haggadah

Posted on March 25, 2021 by nathanalbright

The Passover Haggadah, by E.D. Goldschmidt, edited by Nahum Norbert Glatzer This book is a good work to read if one wants to find out what exactly a Haggadah is and what it covers. As far as its organization goes, … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Gourmet Jewish Cook

Posted on March 18, 2021 by nathanalbright

The Gourmet Jewish Cook, by Judy Zeidler I get the feeling that I would have liked this book a great deal more but for two aspects, one of which is peculiar to the author, and the other which is bound … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Young Heroes Of The Soviet Union

Posted on December 11, 2020 by nathanalbright

Young Heroes Of The Soviet Union: A Memoir And A Reckoning, by Alex Halberstadt This is not a very good memoir, nor is the author nearly insightful enough to provide reckoning about anything. There is a great gulf between what … Continue reading →

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