Sotah 13

On today’s daf, we read about the burial of the biblical patriarch Jacob in the Cave of Machpelah. As with the funerals of prominent people to this day, Jacob’s burial was attended by leaders who would have been the equivalent in stature to modern heads of state.   The Gemara describes the scene: They all came […]

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Sotah 12

When the Israelites had successfully crossed the Red Sea, Moses led the (apparently all-male) crowds in a long song praising God’s greatness. Then, the Torah tells us: Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, picked up a drum, and all the women went out after her in dance with drums. And Miriam chanted for them: Sing to the […]

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