Sitemap - 2023 - Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel's Substack
The Four Worlds As a Musical Metaphor
The Ethics of Trace in Levinas and the Kabbalah
Recreating Frankenstein’s Monster
Harvard Students Embarrass Themselves with Pro-Hamas Rhetoric
The Culture of Biophilia vs. the Culture of Necrophilia
Remembering Kristallnacht Nacht
Socratic Wisdom for Rosh Hashanah 2023
Nomen est Omen—“A Name is Destiny”
Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground (Genesis 4:2)
Respecting the Life of Our Neighbor
Did the Ancients Use Mind-Altering Drugs to Induce Mystical Experiences?
Intimations of “Original Sin” in Early Rabbinic Sources?!
The Curse of Eve: Con-versing with Paul of Tarsus on Genesis 3:16
Thoughts on the Great Chain of Being, the Kabbalah & the Holographic Universe
More Thoughts About Biblical Numbers Part 3
The Symbolic Significance of Biblical Numbers Part 2
A Belated Mother's Day Rap for Jewish Mothers
How Many Israelites Left Egypt? Part 1
Preliminary Thoughts on the Book of Numbers
And You Shall Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land (Leviticus 25:10)
Chief Seattle's Environmental Meditations & the Sabbatical Year
Identifying the "Fruit of the Majestic Tree" of Lev. 23:40
Why did 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiba die?
Lag B'Omer is a Jewish holiday that falls on the 33rd day of the Omer
In Praise of Rabbi Eliezer Silver: One of the Greatest Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust Era
Aspects of Holocaust Theology: The Metaphor of “God as Surgeon” (Part 2)
Aspects of Holocaust Theology: The Metaphor of “God as Surgeon” (Part 1)
Natalie Portman’s Thoughts on the Holocaust
What If the Holocaust Never Occurred?
The Hyksos Conquerors & the Egyptian Revolt
Joseph’s Agrarian Policies Made Pharaoh Powerful
Late Antiquity Perceptions of the Exodus: Moses, Leprosy, and the Exodus -- Part 2
Exodus in the Scholarly Imagination of Late Antiquity [Part 1]
Kalisch's Comment on the Israelites "borrowing" silver and gold in Exodus 11:3
Death of the Firstborn in Egypt: An Intrabiblical Commentary
Borrowing Silver and Gold from the Egyptians
Thoughts on the Plague of Darkness
Reincarnation Part 3: Philo of Alexandria on Transmigration
Reincarnation & Jewish Tradition -- Part 2
Preliminary Remarks on the Subject of Reincarnation -- Part 1
Purim Rap Song by Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel
The Symbolism of the Priestly Bells -- Part 1
The Breastplate: Identifying the Stones (Updated)
The Mysterious Urim and the Thummim of Exodus 28:30
Understanding the Symbolism of the Ark's Horns (Exodus 27:2)
Acts of God -- Part 2 -- Philosophical Debates on the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755
Evaluating Pascal's Wager -- Part 3
Victor Frankl’s Reinterpretation of Pascal’s Wager -- Part 2
Evaluating Pascal's Wager Part 1
Maimonides' Thoughts on the Afterlife
Personal Reflection About Purim
An Ancient Debate on the Meaning of תְּכֵלֶת
Introduction: The Numinous Imagery of the Tabernacle
A Darwinian Approach to Pandemics
Introduction to the Laws Regarding Slavery
Parshat Mishpatim and The Code of Hammurabi
Maimonides’ Novel Interpretation of “An Eye for an Eye”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Comments on Kristallnacht
Parshat Beshallach: An Old Conundrum: How Many People Left Egypt?
Is There Such a Thing as a "Jewish" Soul?
Anthropomorphism--Describing God in Human Terms
Augustine and Saadia Gaon’s View on Metaphor
The Debate Between Ben Petura and R. Akiba
Early Judaic Sources for the Golden Rule
The Mythic Layers of the New Testament
From Lisbon to Katrina: A Modern Jobian Story
Outgrowing Our Childish Perceptions of God
Job and Epictetus & Their Heroic Journey
How Parenting Shapes a Child’s Perception of God
Psalm 23 through the Eyes of a Native American Indian
Carl G. Jung on "The Loss of Soul" as a Modern Jewish Problem
Maimonides’ Thirteen Principles of Faith
Maimonides on the Sacredness of Preserving Human Life
Praise for Birth and Rebirth through Genesis: A Timeless Theological Conversation Genesis 1-11
Alexandria: The First Cosmopolitan Jewish Community of Late Antiquity
Elie Wiesel’s Parable: When Man Became God
In Our Image, after Our Likeness
Marcus M. Kalisch Commentary on Genesis: Man as the Steward of Creation -- Genesis 1:28-31
Marcus Kalisch: The Unknown English Torah Commentator (1828-1888) On Genesis 1:1-5
The Fate of Rabbi Akiba’s Disciples
Marcus Aurelius: Mastering the Chaos—A Lesson for Today
Marcus M. Kalisch Commentary on Genesis 2:1-3
The Quest for the Historical Jesus--A Judaic Perspective
Neglected Sources of Judaic Wisdom
Establishing the Chain of Rabbinical Tradition
Rabbinical and Roman Engagement of Ideas