Sometime around the beginning of the 11th century, an Iraqi Jewish academician named Hai Gaon had to field a query from a puzzled reader of the Talmud: "With respect to that which our rabbis taught, 'Four entered Paradise, Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, the "Other One" and Rabbi Akiba'--what was that … [Read more...]
Lost Horizon, Deadly Paradise – Quaternity Tales (Part 3)
"Conway went to the balcony and gazed at the dazzling plume of Karakal; the moon was riding high in a waveless ocean. ... He was only partly unhappy, but he was infinitely and rather sadly perplexed. He did not know whether he had been mad and was now sane, or had been sane for a time and was now … [Read more...]
Lost Horizon, Deadly Paradise – Quaternity Tales (Part 1)
"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...]
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...]
