Most Jews would readily agree that angels exist in Judaism -- they are mentioned in many places in the Chumash, and we incorporate them into hymns such as Shalom Aleichem. Interestingly, the Mishnah does not mention angels at all, and there was a vigorous

What's the proper course of action when one arrives late to synagogue, and the service has already begun? Though traditional sources emphasize the importance of reciting the Amidah with the community, and recommend that latecomers change the order of thei

In the time of the Mishnah and Talmud, the Halachic tradition was passed down orally, from teacher to student. The canonization of the Talmud in written form provided new pathways for the dissemination of Rabbinic teaching, and by the time of the Tosafist

Jewish mysticism of 11th century Ashkenaz (Germany and northern France) was not Lurianic Kabbalah, but rather a much more primal form of mysticism based on the Merkava and Heichalot texts of the Rabbinic or Geonic periods. Despite some statements to the c

The Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides (often referred to by his Hebrew acronym, RaMBaM) has come to be seen as the intellectual leader of the rationalist approach to Jewish tradition. However, his writings attracted fierce opposition from the Egyptian J

The Babylonian Geonim were the successors of the Rabbis of the Talmudic era, and were the pre-eminent Rabbinic authorities between the 7th and 11th centuries. On the death of Rav Hai Gaon -- the last of the Geonim -- in 1038, the centre of gravity of the

The siege and mass suicide of the Zealots at Masada in 73 CE is legendary in Jewish history, but the Rabbis of both the Mishnaic and subsequent eras do not mention it at all. In this episode, Gavin and Jordan explore some possible reasons for this, and di

R' Yaakov Koppel Lifschitz was an early-18th-century Kabbalist whose key writings -- the Sha'ar Gan Eden ("Gateway to the Garden of Eden") and the Siddur Kol Ya'akov -- evinced strong Sabbatean influences. They, in turn, were held in very high esteem by t

The events surrounding messianic claimant Shabbetai Tzvi's rise to fame coincided with the emergence of newspapers in western Europe. In this episode, Gavin and Jordan discuss how Shabbetai Tzvi was portrayed in these newspapers, both during his heyday in

The messianic claimant Shabbetai Tzvi rocked the Jewish world in the mid-17th century, counting perhaps half the Jews of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East among his supporters. Though he is often treated as a footnote in Jewish history, his influe