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About Us Browse Tags Tractates Our Authors Latest Essays TheTorah.com
Holidays

Shabbat

Passover

Shavuot

Tisha Bav

Rosh Hashanah

Yom Kippur

Sukkot

Chanukah

Purim

About Us Browse Tags Tractates Our Authors Latest Essays TheTorah.com

Yom Kippur

The Tale of the Sadducee who Incorrectly Prepared the Yom Kippur Ketoret

What is the significance of the contentious debate between the Pharisees and the Sadducees on where the Ketoret (incense) should be burnt? The Talmud tells the story of a Sadduccean High Priest who prepared the Yom Kippur ketoret according to the Sadducean rite and died a gruesome death. Comparing the Talmud’s version of this story with parallels elsewhere in rabbinic literature illuminates the Talmud’s understanding of the meaning of this vital Yom Kippur Avodah (ritual).

Dr. Yonatan Feintuch

Kimchit’s Head Covering: Between Rabbis and Priests

A feminist reading

Dr. Marjorie Lehman

The Baal Shem Tov and the Boy who Played Flute on Yom Kippur

A Talmudic reading of a Hassidic tale—and vice versa.

Dr. Menachem Katz

Body or Soul: Which is Responsible for Committing Sins? 

To illustrate the body and soul’s responsibility for sin, an early midrash presents the parable of the blind and lame watchmen. Curiously, this parable later shows up in Piyyut and in a Christian text. What might this teach us about the spread of rabbinic texts and ideas in late antiquity?

Prof. Ophir Münz Manor
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