Month: January 2019
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Parshat Yitro: The 12 Tables
The Roman Plebians were sick of being abused by the Patricians and demanded more power in governing the city. Around 462 BCE Terentilius — who was the Plebian Tribune at the time — advocated for a written set of laws that would govern Roman citizens. Until that time, laws had been a combination of whatever… Read more
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Parshat Beshalach: The Green Book
The “Green Book” won several awards at the Golden Globes last week, including “Best Motion Picture.” The movie, set in 1960, tells the story of the relationship between an African-American classical pianist and the Italian-American bouncer he hires to drive him on a concert tour through the racially divided deep south. The movie’s title comes… Read more
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Parshat Bo: The power of youth
For more than a hundred years, from the end of the fifth century BCE, the Spartan army was the supreme fighting force in the ancient world. The Spartans were not known for their advances in science, technology or medicine. Apart from the Chilon in the 6th century BCE (who was renowned as one of the… Read more
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Parshat Vaera: The Power of Two
Even non-Americans like me have heard of Paul Revere and his famous midnight ride during the American Revolution, even if they don’t know the actual meaning of Longfellow’s famous line, “One if by land, and two if by sea.” But far fewer people have ever heard of William Dawes, who made the same midnight ride,… Read more