Eulogy for Professor Baruch Levine, of blessed memory
Delivered at his funeral, Bet El-Kesser Israel Cemetery, Hamden, CT December 19, 2021, by Lawrence H. Schiffman
I am probably the person here who knew Baruch Levine longest. I first met him as a freshman at Brandeis when I took his Talmud course. In a sense for me it was an introduction to two things: the scientific scholarly approach to the Gemara and to what it meant to study with Baruch. I feel that I should speak here about him from three points of view: from the point of view of my personal obligation to him and relationship with him, as a representative of New York University, and finally as a representative of the fields of Biblical and Judaic Studies to which he made so great a contribution.
The sages teach us that the commandment of ואהבת לרעך כמוך, “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” is an overarching commandment that covers an entire list of obligations, positive and negative that appear as separate commandments. Perhaps everything that we may say today can be summed up by the statement of our NYU colleague Dr. Shayne Figueroa, “In addition to being a legendary scholar he was one of the most cheerful and… Continue reading
A Fortress Unearthed
The excavation of a destroyed fortress that belonged to the Seleucid military forces—the Yevanim of Chanukah—brings the battle to life after more than 2,000 years. The Israel Antiquities Authority recently announced the excavation, saying the Seleucids likely used this fortress to defend the Hellenistic city Maresha against the Chashmona’im.
Chanukah celebrates the rededication of the Beis Hamikdash by Yehudah Hamaccabi in 164 BCE, but that was by no means the end of the story—or the fighting. Soon after the apparent victory of the Maccabees, the Seleucid forces convinced elements of the Jewish population to accept a promise of religious freedom in return for amnesty. This led to the expulsion of Yehudah and his soldiers from Yerushalayim, though they fought valiantly in the hills.
Read the rest of A Fortress Unearthed in Ami Magazine.
Kosher Dishes
NEW ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES FROM MEDIEVAL ENGLAND REVEAL THAT LOCAL JEWS KEPT KOSHER DESPITE HARDSHIP
When people hear the word “archaeology” most will immediately think of Israel or the ancient Near East. Who would have thought that important archaeological research pertaining to the history of the Jewish people would be going on in Oxford, England? But actually, a group of British archaeologists working in Oxford have published a fantastic study in which they examined two sets of evidence—animal bones and broken pottery. The simple result? They were able to confirm that an area known from medieval property records was indeed the Jewish quarter and that Jews in the 12th and 13th centuries observed the laws of kashrus.
Read the rest of this article in Ami Magazine.
