Free Republic

Could artificial intelligence solve one of the Bible’s biggest mysteries? A team of researchers used AI-powered statistical modeling to analyze the authorship of the Hebrew Bible and made surprising discoveries about ancient narratives. Credit: Shutterstock A multidisciplinary team of researchers is using artificial intelligence to unravel the authorship of the Hebrew Bible’s earliest books. Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing everything from healthcare to filmmaking to finance. So, why not apply it to one of the most ancient and influential books in history—the Bible? That’s exactly what an international team of researchers set out to do. Among them was Shira Faigenbaum-Golovin, an...

I am not one to quote Shmuley Boteach. I am less than enamored with his interest in becoming the Jewish icon to the goyim. But he is dead on the money in his Jpost column The coming storm: Obama and American Jewry. APRPEH's last post concerning Jeremiah Wright and his message to B. Hussein Obama and subsequently to anyone else who was paying attention, drew a conclusion that Wright (who knows Obama as well, if not better than most people) seemed to be surprised and disappointed that Barry was concealing his true self. This conclusion should be in mind to...

Jewish History Torah translated into Greek (246 BCE) In a second attempt to translate the Torah into Greek (after an unsuccessful attempt 61 years earlier), the ruling Greek-Egyptian emperor Ptolemy gathered 72 Torah sages, had them sequestered in 72 separate rooms, and ordered them to each produce a translation. On the 8th of Tevet of the year 3515 from creation (246 BCE) they produced 72 corresponding translations, including identical changes in 13 places (where they each felt that a literal translation would constitute a corruption of the Torah's true meaning). This Greek rendition became known as the Septuagint, "of the...

“The statistical probability that organic structures and the most precisely harmonized reactions that typify living organisms would be generated by accident, is zero.”- Ilya Prigogine (Chemist-Physicist) Recipient of two Nobel Prizes in chemistryI. Prigogine, N. Gregair, A. Babbyabtz, Physics Today 25, pp. 23-28“The really amazing thing is not that life on Earth is balanced on a knife-edge, but that the entire universe is balanced on a knife-edge, and would be total chaos if any of the natural ‘constants’ were off even slightly. You see,” Davies adds, “even if you dismiss man as a chance happening, the fact remains that the...

Will the Jews keep the Torah and follow it in the Messianic era if Christians say the Law is dead?

In a remarkable fusion of ancient tradition and modern craftsmanship, a meticulously constructed replica of the biblical Ark of the Covenant was showcased in Jerusalem during the Sukkot holiday. The display, which took place at the prestigious King David Hotel, featured the golden vessel housing a Holocaust-surviving Torah scroll from Thessaloniki, Greece. The ambitious project, spanning three and a half years, involved 17 volunteers across multiple countries who adhered strictly to Torah specifications. The replica’s construction required approximately three tons of Egyptian Acacia wood and was adorned with high-purity gold measuring 23.75 carats – the same grade used in ancient...

One of the big lies in today’s world is that the Jews are white supremacist colonizers, while the people in Gaza and the West Bank are the region’s indigenous inhabitants. In fact, the contrary is true. Jews long predated Muslims in the region, as described in the Bible. Now, there’s more evidence that Isaiah, 2 Kings, and 2 Chronicles all accurately describe the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem 2,700 years ago.During the reign of Hezekiah of Judah in Jerusalem and Sennacherib in Assyria, the mighty Assyrian kingdom attacked Jerusalem (around 701 BC). We know it happened because of a clay prism...

Click on the link to see the video.

The Messianic Redemption will be ushered in by a person, a human leader, a descendant of Kings David and Solomon, who will reinstate the Davidic royal dynasty. According to tradition, Moshiach will be wiser than Solomon, and a prophet around the level of Moses. Ever since the destruction of the Holy Temple, in every generation there is an individual, a scion of the House of David, who has the potential to be the Moshiach. If at any moment the Jews are worthy of redemption, this person would be directed from Above to assume the role of the redeemer. In every...

Klein's: צִמְצוּם m.n. MH 1 compressing, condensing, contraction. NH 2 restriction, reduction, limitation. [Verbal n. of צִמְצֵם (see צמצם), coined by Rashi (1040–1105).] The tzimtzum or tsimtsum (Hebrew: צמצום ṣimṣum "contraction/constriction/condensation") is a term used in the Lurianic Kabbalah to explain Isaac Luria's doctrine that God began the process of creation by "contracting" his Ohr Ein Sof (infinite light) in order to allow for a "conceptual space" in which finite and seemingly independent realms could exist. This primordial initial contraction, forming a ḥalal hapanuy "vacant space" (חלל הפנוי‎) into which new creative light could beam, is denoted by general reference...

Israel's PM Bibi Netanyahu points to a sign with the verse in Zechariah 4:6: "'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty."The image is from his tweet today: I am committed to it. Our fighters are committed to it and the overwhelming majority of the people is committed to it. We will not compromise on anything less than total victory. pic.twitter.com/8QC5IULLAY— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) January 30, 2024

Rabbis since the Middle Ages onwards have sought to prove the validity of the Torah and our belief in G-d from the story of G-d’s revelation to the whole Jewish people at Mount Sinai. As explained by Rabbi Judah Halevi in the Kuzari, the logic goes like this: If G-d had not actually appeared to all the Jewish people, then it would have been impossible for someone to write a book that would be adopted as truth by those people. Because Jews of previous generations accepted the Torah as truth and passed it down to subsequent generations, and ultimately to...

Video at the source.

This past Shabbat (Sabbath) was a dark day in American Jewish history. Once again — this time within Judaism — the rule that the Left destroys everything it touches was exemplified. Twelve hundred American synagogues participated in "Repro-Shabbat." "Repro" is short for "reproductive rights." The idea, which originated with a left-wing organization called the National Conference of Jewish Women (NCJW), was to have as many synagogues as possible promote the idea that Judaism supports a woman's right to abort the child she is carrying at any time in her pregnancy and for any reason, that the human fetus is never...

What Is the Biblical Definition of Marriage? https://www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-life/what-is-the-biblical-definition-of-marriage.html Robert Hampshire Quote: "Think about it: Two far-from-perfect people are covenanting their life together based on no matter what they have done in the past, no matter what happens in the future, in sickness and health, and for better or worse until they die. What a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ (the groom) and his never-ending love for the Church (the bride)."

In Igros Moshe Even HaEzer 4:113 Rav Moshe Feinstein responded to a question that concerned a husband who, unbeknownst to his wife at the time they married, turned out to be engulfed in homosexual behavior. Could the marriage be annulled due to mekach ta'us (a purchase made under false pretenses), or would the wife require a get (writ of divorce) as is standard? After a Talmudic analysis, Rav Moshe writes as follows (see here for original Hebrew): “Regarding the matter at hand, since we find that a great blemish is in essence a mekach ta'us even regarding a woman [who...

An oxymoron is a rhetorical self-contradiction, like combining the word “gay” — meaning some peoples’ deliberate self-identification with the shameful, disease-spreading lifestyle of sodomy — with the word “pride.” Another example is defining the social goal of “diversity and inclusion” to require the active suppression and exclusion of pro-family Christians, Jews, Muslims and secular traditionalists. America is awash in delusions, contradictions and double standards these days as the crazies who stole the 2020 election continue their vain attempt to conform our institutions to their irrational worldview without collapsing it into chaos. Nowhere is that clown-show debacle more ludicrous than in...

Since Creation Ministries International is based on the Bible, the question arises, why should the Bible be trusted? How should we answer those who claim that it’s been re-written so many times that we no longer have the original? And even if we do, was it written long after the events it claimed to report? Also, does archaeology disprove the Bible? Finally, even if it is true, what’s the point?

The Revised Jewish Publication Society edition of the Bible is the first major update to the JPS translation of the Tanakh in nearly 40 years.A new Biblical translation that eschews gendered pronouns for God is now available through Sefaria, the online library of Jewish texts, prompting backlash on social media from some who see the change as a sacrilege. The Revised Jewish Publication Society edition of the Bible, which the 135-year-old Jewish publishing house has released in partnership with Sefaria, is the first major update to the JPS translation of the Tanakh in nearly 40 years. So far, only the...

The Codex Sassoon, believed to date from the late 9th or early 10th century, was bought at Sotheby’s by the American Friends of the ANU — Museum of the Jewish People.The oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible sold at Sotheby’s for $38.1 million on Wednesday, one of the highest prices for a book or historical document ever sold at auction.The volume, known as the Codex Sassoon, includes all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, minus about eight leaves, including the first 10 chapters of Genesis. Researchers have dated it to the late ninth or early 10th century, making it the oldest near-complete...