Abraham the Astronomer Part 2

In the centuries before the Talmudic rabbis, there were numerous other ancient Jewish writers who also connected Abraham to astronomy…

Abraham the Astronomer

There is an obviously very appealing idea extant in Jewish sources that Abraham the Patriarch was an astronomer. Where do we see this idea? And where does it originate?

Bereishit and the Nobel Prize

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star” can help understand a midrash on Bereishit…

HaAdam Al HaYareach (Man on the Moon) Part 4

In 1969 Rabbi Menachem Kasher, one of the gedolim [= great Torah scholars] of the twentieth century, published a series of Torah thought essays related to the most amazing event of his time, or any time ever in human history: the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, this week I am…

Bilaam’s Star Prophecy

“A star shall come forth from Jacob”. Let the meaning hidden in this verse shine forth better with modern astronomy…

The Lights of Kislev

The light of the Menorah is a symbol, but of what? There are surprising similarities to… a rainbow…?

The Astronomers’ Blessing

The morning blessing Yotzer Or, “Who creates light”: “The Astronomers’ Blessing”. It focuses on things near and dear to astronomers, light and more…