"Four entered Paradise. One looked and died; one looked and went mad; one mutilated the young plants; one entered safely and came out safely." No, this isn't a plot summary for James Hilton's wildly popular novel Lost Horizon, turned by Frank Capra into a somewhat less popular film. It's the … [Read more...]
“Crucify Him!” – The Long Trauma of Easter
Easter. Not my holiday. In an earlier post I've written about how, as a Unitarian Universalist of Jewish heritage, I've taken to celebrating Christmas. Not Easter, though. Too much historical baggage there for me. The Christmas story is warm, inclusive, expansive. The poor Jewish shepherds … [Read more...]
Best Book in the Bible – Akiba, Ingersoll, and the Song of Songs
Here's a riddle for you: What did Akiba ben Joseph, the great rabbi of the 2nd century CE, and Robert Ingersoll, the great agnostic of the 19th century about whom I posted last week, have in common? Answer: they both thought the Song of Songs (a.k.a. "Song of Solomon") was the best book of the … [Read more...]
Love Goddess Stories – Esther, Ishtar, and the “Doe of the Dawn” (Postscript)
This is a P.S. to a three-part post, on the mythic background of Esther and the Purim story. You can read the earlier installments by clicking here, here, and here. In 114 or 113 BCE, a Jew named Dositheus showed up in Egypt, carrying with him a Greek document which he called "the Letter of … [Read more...]
Love Goddess Stories – Esther, Ishtar, and the “Doe of the Dawn” (Part 3)
This is the final installment of a three-part post. To see previous installments, click here and here. For a "P.S." to the series, click here. The snake's name was ... Sabbatai Zevi. He really did exist--in history. This "snake" is the one who, in the Zohar, bites the "Doe of the Dawn" on … [Read more...]
