Author Archives: zjb

About zjb

Zachary Braiterman is Professor of Religion in the Department of Religion at Syracuse University. His specialization is modern Jewish thought and philosophical aesthetics. http://religion.syr.edu

Netanyahu Will Bless (Rosh Hashana)

Posted on September 23, 2022 by zjb

h/t Avraham Bronstein, @AvBronstein

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(Metalogical) Being In The World (Franz Rosenzweig)

Posted on September 22, 2022 by zjb

Rosenzweig writes against what he calls “negative cosmology” in modern philosophy. In the opening lines of the chapter on the world in part I of The Star of Redemption, describes the world like this, or rather our being in the … Continue reading →

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(Modular Body) Mishnah Hands Tumah

Posted on September 21, 2022 by zjb

“This perceived modularity of the human body is what enables, I suggest, one of the most perplexing rabbinic (or protorabbinic) innovations, namely, the ruling that one’s hands are constantly impure (in a low degree) regardless of the impurity status of … Continue reading →

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A Finite God of Gaps (Franz Rosenzweig)

Posted on September 14, 2022 by zjb

Better than the infinite and nameless God is the becoming finite God of the gap in the haze of names as thought out by Franz Rosenzweig as he begins to close his chapter on the metaphysical God in The Star … Continue reading →

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First Temple Period Ivory (Ornament)

Posted on September 12, 2022 by zjb

Recent lovely little finds from the First Temple Period (8th or 7th C. BCE) are made out of ivory. These materiele suggests something about luxury and decoration, the power and influence of ancient Judea, at the time a vassal to … Continue reading →

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Yeshiva Gate (Twitter)

Posted on September 11, 2022 by zjb

Howls of righteous rage and fury are unscrolling in real time at Twitter, from those whom the Hasidic schools failed miserably and their allies among modern orthodox Jews. MT asked me whom to follow and here are some recommendations. Shulim … Continue reading →

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Chabad At Church of the Resurrection (Manhattan)

Posted on September 2, 2022 by zjb
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Lower East Side Bright Light

Posted on August 28, 2022 by zjb

This post elicted a couple of interesting comments at FB. Two were about the slowed down pace of gentrification in the wake of Covid, another one about an anti-Semitic incident in the neighborhood. They were all very much in the … Continue reading →

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(Duck) Wah Fung Number 1 Fast Food 華豐快餐店

Posted on August 4, 2022 by zjb

Wah Fung Number 1 Fast Food 華豐快餐店 79 Chrystie St (between Canal & Hester Street) Lower East Side

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Red Sunset on the Dnieper (Dnipro) (1905-8)

Posted on August 3, 2022 by zjb

In solidarity, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has put up in “Gallery 800” this painting by Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi. This scene shows a sunset over the river Dnieper, which originates west of Moscow and runs south into the Black Sea. … Continue reading →

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