Amazing!

Jonatan was at JTS last week and gave a fantastic talk on Breslov.

Fantastic new resource for scholars of Hebrew manuscripts, Jewish Art, and the Hebrew Bible--an online digital edition of the (now lost) Cairo Codex of the Prophets, prepared by Elvira Martín-Contreras!

biblioteca.cchs.csic.es/Codice-Profe...

By way of introduction: my book, The Multiplicity of Scripture: The Making of the Antwerp Polyglot Bible (Toronto: PIMS 2025)
pims.ca/publication/...

Available in North America via @uoftpress.bsky.social, in Europe via @brepols.net, and in digital form by @degruyterbrill.bsky.social

I keep going back to this. This is a taunt. They're taunting us. There is no other possible interpretation of what they're doing.

But media simply ignores this deranged behavior, because if they talk about it, one must conclude that DHS is a rogue agency, of villainous paramilitary thugs.

ICE mustn't only be abolished, at this point. Its members should be investigated and prosecuted if need be. This is literally fucking Gestapo behaviour. This is state terrorism of the sort you see in bona fide totalitarian countries which existed in the 20th century.

I don't know why, but basically every day of my life, wherever I am, I get asked for directions. Over a decade ago, when I was living in Jerusalem, a black SUV pulled up next to me as I was walking and *the former mayor*—Uri Lupolianski—pulled down his window and asked me how to get somewhere.

losing my mind at the "she should have followed directions" people

really? really? you're cool with "if you don't follow directions, they get to kill you"? that seems like a good state of affairs to you? that seems like how law enforcement ought to work: instant obeisance or death?

Mark Levine being sworn in as NYC Comptroller on a JPS Tanakh

My phone’s insistence on autocorrecting to “Chanukah sumac” has gotten me wondering how exactly I can incorporate sumac into my Chanukah cooking

I love Kolek. And yes, I’m gonna go there: there’s no way Thibs would’ve played him this much (if at all).

An article by Menham Kahana from Tarbitz 90.2, dedicated to the memory of David Landes

The study of rabbinic literature today lost a giant: Prof. Menahem Kahana of the Hebrew University.

I have much to say abt Kahana, my teacher, & I hope to do so in the coming weeks.

Right now I remember his friendship with my father z”l, to whom he recently dedicated an article.

חבל על דאבדין

The primary fight we’ve all been waiting for: AIPAC vs. JFREJ

Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison

They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.

לישנא דרבנן הבית של ספרי האיכות ותרגומי המופת כבר 90 שנה

ימא טבא ללישנא דרבנן

Now out: The collected articles of Shamma Friedman on rabbinic Hebrew and Aramaic

www.bialik-publishing.co.il/Lishana-Dera...

Lonsdale is, among other things, the founding board chairman of that "University of Austin" thing that Bari Weiss is backing.

That's the school that "prepares thoughtful and ethical innovators, builders, leaders, public servants and citizens through open inquiry and civil discourse."

Also: Cars, a product that leads to ultimate happiness yet also a product that you should constantly be purchasing

Jordan Penkower passed away in September & barely a day goes by without his name coming up in my conversations with other scholars.

This tribute by Yosef Ofer does an excellent job at summarizing Penkower’s main contributions to the study of the text of the Hebrew Bible.

brill.com/view/journal...

We have big news to share: Our head Prof Ronny Vollandt, together with Prof Nathan Gibson (Frankfurt), will receive funding for a 21-year long-term project on Arabic translations of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. It will be based at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and the Academy in Mainz.

It was SUCH a wonderful discussion with Alison Stewart (including a poignant question about how I kept my sanity while working on the book) and you can listen right here:

The Kingmaker from Williamsburg - Mishpacha Magazine “How could you endorse Mamdani?” Tough questions for Satmar askan Rabbi Moishe Indig

I am not joking when I say that this Mishpacha magazine interview with the Satmar askan Moishe Indig on his relationship with Mamdani is one of the most important articles you can read on the recent mayoral election here in NYC

mishpacha.com/the-kingmake...

While I’m here talking abt Spanish Masoretic bibles I’ll add that *there’s still time* to see JTS L44a, copied by the famed Israel b. Isaac supposedly from THE Codex Hilleli, in Toledo in 1241, at our exhibit at the Grolier www.grolierclub.org/default.aspx...

A Rare Hebrew Bible with Micrographic Masorah, Spain c. 1300 | Important Judaica | 2025 | Sotheby's <p>A Rare Hebrew Bible with Micrographic Masorah</p><p><em>[Toledo, late 13th-early 14th century]</em></p><p><br></p><p>249 folios (10 1/4 x 9 in.; 260 x 230 mm), manuscript on parchment. Bound in ela...

It’s not every day that one of these 13th-14th century Masoretic Bibles from Spain goes up for sale…

www.sothebys.com/en/buy/aucti...

Cannot lift this up enough. It’s as if the art of printing books has been forgotten. The books I bought at SBL barely survived the train ride back to NYC.

Today in class it came up that it would be very cool if Spike Lee paired two Genizah fragments together and then it would be “A Spike Lee Join”

George Conway, a Vocal Foe of Trump, Eyes Congressional Run

This is going to be one of the wildest congressional primaries we have ever seen

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/u...

I am pleased to announce that John Penniman, Emanuel Fiano, and I are launching a new book series for the study of religion in late antiquity with Fordham University Press. If you have a book-in-progress looking for a home, please reach out to discuss your project!
fordhampress.com/theoria

Lot of great stuff in the RLC section at SBL this year!

Attend, ask questions, say hi, spread the word!

Think the marriage of convenience between the historically antisemitic far-right and the Israeli right has been bad for Diaspora Jews? Wait until you see the divorce.

A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.

Remarkably brilliant, experienced, and—other than Khan—surprisingly mainstream group of transition co-chairs for Mamdani. www.transition2025.com