Ruby Namdar on the bible’s black widow harlot The name Tamar, in Hebrew, means a date or a date tree. In a world without processed sugar, where fruits are the rare and precious sweets the name reads as “a sweet thing”, “a tasty morsel” or simply as “candy”. And it seems like this is exactly
Ruby Namdar on the much-ignored tragic elements of Hannah’s story “Tear” by Gideon van der Stelt Tradition reads the tale of Hannah, which includes her struggle with rival-wife Peninah and the miraculous birth of her son Samuel, as a victorious tale, celebrating the triumph of piety and faith. Few commentators, ancient or modern, pay attention
Ruby Namdar on how motherhood exalted and destroyed the women of Genesis Adriaen van der Werff: “Sarah Presenting Hagar” Motherhood, especially with the first child, is an extremely tender, and hence vulnerable, state. But this extreme state of fragility is also a time in which the visible and invisible structures of power in the family
Ruby Namdar on Why We Hate Thinking About Our Mothers Having Sex “Maternal Affection” by Edward Hodges Baily (1788-1861) Share How ironic is it that Eve, mother of all living things, is also associated with death and mortality? In the book of Genesis, Eve is portrayed as the weak moral link, the one
A commentary on the Book of Ruth by Ruby Namdar Wheat awaiting harvest Share 6 And she went down unto the threshing-floor, and did according to all that her mother-in-law bade her. 7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of
A Commentary on Leviticus 19 by Ruby Namdar Share 9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. 10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard;
On the need for beauty in urban spaces By Basmat Hazan and Ruby Namdar Basmat: I like lists a lot. Not necessarily grocery lists, but rather lists from classical rabbinical texts. I feel that a series of pithy statements, often seemingly mundane, is able to challenge our sense
A dialogue with Leviticus 14, Verses 33 to 53 By Ruby Namdar Leviticus: And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a
Freedom and its discontents by Basmat Hazan and Ruby Namdar Ruby: The tale of Cain and Abel, describing the first murder in human history, happens in an open field. Do you think the field location carries a special meaning? Basmat: Yes – the field is not just the
A Brief Debate by Basmat Hazan and Ruby Namdar Did Noah turn to drink after leaving the ark because he was sad to have left the heaven? Or traumautized from living in hell? “Drunkenness of Noah” by Giovanni BelliniBasmat: Ten generations after humans were created, not long after