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From Tallahassee to the Holy Land: May 2015
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From Tallahassee to the Holy Land. Life in Eretz Yisrael by Aaron Gertz. Thursday, May 7, 2015. Jewish and Democratic State. Israel describes itself as a Jewish and Democratic state. But, of course, as with most things here, this description is far more complicated than it seems. What do we mean by Jewish? Do we mean a state governed by Halacha (traditional Jewish law)? Do we mean a state whose official symbols, such as the flag and national anthem, are Jewish? So, is Israel a Jewish and Democratic state?
fromtallahasseetotheholyland.blogspot.com
From Tallahassee to the Holy Land: Jewish Math: Mishna + Gemara = Talmud
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From Tallahassee to the Holy Land. Life in Eretz Yisrael by Aaron Gertz. Thursday, March 12, 2015. Jewish Math: Mishna Gemara = Talmud. To try and understand the Talmud (and Jewish law in general) we can compare it to American law. In the US all law is based on the Constitution. But of course the Constitution doesn't comment on things such as the legality of downloading music without paying for it. So why is downloading music illegal? To a famous Talmudic passage in which the Rabbis are discussing the ph...
fromtallahasseetotheholyland.blogspot.com
From Tallahassee to the Holy Land: January 2015
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From Tallahassee to the Holy Land. Life in Eretz Yisrael by Aaron Gertz. Friday, January 30, 2015. There's also a new party in these elections, כולנו (Kulanu, All of Us), led by Moshe Kahlon, who became famous for helping lower the outrageous cell phone costs in Israel, which has a similar platform. Their list of candidates includes Michael Oren, a well-known historian who recently was Israel's ambassador to the US. Which sort of issues do you think are the most important? Who would you vote for and why?
fromtallahasseetotheholyland.blogspot.com
From Tallahassee to the Holy Land: Introduction to Islam
http://fromtallahasseetotheholyland.blogspot.com/2015/03/introduction-to-islam.html
From Tallahassee to the Holy Land. Life in Eretz Yisrael by Aaron Gertz. Thursday, March 12, 2015. In my previous post I explained the flowering of Jewish culture under Persian rule that resulted in the Babylonian Talmud. Unfortunately, like all periods of prosperity, it didn't last (how's that for upbeat? Is welcome in his hometown". Stages of Muslim conquest. So what exactly did these Muslims believe? March 13, 2015 at 1:48 PM. March 13, 2015 at 3:39 PM. March 13, 2015 at 3:44 PM. I loved our tiyul yes...
fromtallahasseetotheholyland.blogspot.com
From Tallahassee to the Holy Land: The Beginnings of the Modern Arab-Israeli Conflict
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From Tallahassee to the Holy Land. Life in Eretz Yisrael by Aaron Gertz. Saturday, April 25, 2015. The Beginnings of the Modern Arab-Israeli Conflict. They expressed their support for a Jewish state in Palestine. In the McMahon. Between the Jewish and Arab leaderships. So how did we arrive at the situation? Was the clash inevitable due to competing interests? Did European greed compel the British to encourage Jews and Arabs to fight? Was it all one, big unhappy accident? How did this whole thing start?
fromtallahasseetotheholyland.blogspot.com
From Tallahassee to the Holy Land: Bar Kochva revolt
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From Tallahassee to the Holy Land. Life in Eretz Yisrael by Aaron Gertz. Friday, March 6, 2015. St Augustine also dealt with the intellectual conundrum that was the continued existence of the Jews. If, as he knew to be the case, Christianity was True, how can we explain the continued existence of Am Yisrael (the Jewish people)? Shouldn't they all have died out and/or converted to Christianity? This rebellion, in my opinion, is more problematic than the Great Revolt. It's easy to make the case that th...
fromtallahasseetotheholyland.blogspot.com
From Tallahassee to the Holy Land: Jewish and Democratic State
http://fromtallahasseetotheholyland.blogspot.com/2015/05/jewish-and-democratic-state.html
From Tallahassee to the Holy Land. Life in Eretz Yisrael by Aaron Gertz. Thursday, May 7, 2015. Jewish and Democratic State. Israel describes itself as a Jewish and Democratic state. But, of course, as with most things here, this description is far more complicated than it seems. What do we mean by Jewish? Do we mean a state governed by Halacha (traditional Jewish law)? Do we mean a state whose official symbols, such as the flag and national anthem, are Jewish? So, is Israel a Jewish and Democratic state?
fromtallahasseetotheholyland.blogspot.com
From Tallahassee to the Holy Land: Writing down the Oral Torah: the Story of Yehuda HaNasi
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From Tallahassee to the Holy Land. Life in Eretz Yisrael by Aaron Gertz. Thursday, March 12, 2015. Writing down the Oral Torah: the Story of Yehuda HaNasi. On Sunday we were on an amazing tiyul (field trip) in the north of the country. We began at Beit Shearim, which is just southeast of Haifa, then cut across the country to Beit Alfa, which is near Beit She'an on Israel's Eastern border, and finished up with a dip in the beautiful Sachne Pools nearby. So why were we up north? And the influences the majo...
fromtallahasseetotheholyland.blogspot.com
From Tallahassee to the Holy Land: April 2015
http://fromtallahasseetotheholyland.blogspot.com/2015_04_01_archive.html
From Tallahassee to the Holy Land. Life in Eretz Yisrael by Aaron Gertz. Saturday, April 25, 2015. The Beginnings of the Modern Arab-Israeli Conflict. They expressed their support for a Jewish state in Palestine. In the McMahon. Between the Jewish and Arab leaderships. So how did we arrive at the situation? Was the clash inevitable due to competing interests? Did European greed compel the British to encourage Jews and Arabs to fight? Was it all one, big unhappy accident? How did this whole thing start?
