Fantastic new resource for scholars of Hebrew manuscripts, Jewish Art, and the Hebrew Bible--an online digital edition of the (now lost) Cairo Codex of the Prophets, prepared by Elvira Martín-Contreras! biblioteca.cchs.csic.es/Codice-Profe...

By way of introduction: my book, The Multiplicity of Scripture: The Making of the Antwerp Polyglot Bible (Toronto: PIMS 2025) pims.ca/publication/... Available in North America via @uoftpress.bsky.social, in Europe via @brepols.net, and in digital form by @degruyterbrill.bsky.social

I keep going back to this. This is a taunt. They're taunting us. There is no other possible interpretation of what they're doing. But media simply ignores this deranged behavior, because if they talk about it, one must conclude that DHS is a rogue agency, of villainous paramilitary thugs.

ICE mustn't only be abolished, at this point. Its members should be investigated and prosecuted if need be. This is literally fucking Gestapo behaviour. This is state terrorism of the sort you see in bona fide totalitarian countries which existed in the 20th century.

I don't know why, but basically every day of my life, wherever I am, I get asked for directions. Over a decade ago, when I was living in Jerusalem, a black SUV pulled up next to me as I was walking and *the former mayor*—Uri Lupolianski—pulled down his window and asked me how to get somewhere.

losing my mind at the "she should have followed directions" people really? really? you're cool with "if you don't follow directions, they get to kill you"? that seems like a good state of affairs to you? that seems like how law enforcement ought to work: instant obeisance or death?

Mark Levine being sworn in as NYC Comptroller on a JPS Tanakh

My phone’s insistence on autocorrecting to “Chanukah sumac” has gotten me wondering how exactly I can incorporate sumac into my Chanukah cooking

I love Kolek. And yes, I’m gonna go there: there’s no way Thibs would’ve played him this much (if at all).

The study of rabbinic literature today lost a giant: Prof. Menahem Kahana of the Hebrew University. I have much to say abt Kahana, my teacher, & I hope to do so in the coming weeks. Right now I remember his friendship with my father z”l, to whom he recently dedicated an article. חבל על דאבדין

The primary fight we’ve all been waiting for: AIPAC vs. JFREJ

They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.

ימא טבא ללישנא דרבנן Now out: The collected articles of Shamma Friedman on rabbinic Hebrew and Aramaic www.bialik-publishing.co.il/Lishana-Dera...

Lonsdale is, among other things, the founding board chairman of that "University of Austin" thing that Bari Weiss is backing. That's the school that "prepares thoughtful and ethical innovators, builders, leaders, public servants and citizens through open inquiry and civil discourse."

Jordan Penkower passed away in September & barely a day goes by without his name coming up in my conversations with other scholars. This tribute by Yosef Ofer does an excellent job at summarizing Penkower’s main contributions to the study of the text of the Hebrew Bible. brill.com/view/journal...

We have big news to share: Our head Prof Ronny Vollandt, together with Prof Nathan Gibson (Frankfurt), will receive funding for a 21-year long-term project on Arabic translations of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. It will be based at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and the Academy in Mainz.

It was SUCH a wonderful discussion with Alison Stewart (including a poignant question about how I kept my sanity while working on the book) and you can listen right here:

I am not joking when I say that this Mishpacha magazine interview with the Satmar askan Moishe Indig on his relationship with Mamdani is one of the most important articles you can read on the recent mayoral election here in NYC mishpacha.com/the-kingmake...

It’s not every day that one of these 13th-14th century Masoretic Bibles from Spain goes up for sale… www.sothebys.com/en/buy/aucti...

Cannot lift this up enough. It’s as if the art of printing books has been forgotten. The books I bought at SBL barely survived the train ride back to NYC.

Today in class it came up that it would be very cool if Spike Lee paired two Genizah fragments together and then it would be “A Spike Lee Join”

This is going to be one of the wildest congressional primaries we have ever seen www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/u...

I am pleased to announce that John Penniman, Emanuel Fiano, and I are launching a new book series for the study of religion in late antiquity with Fordham University Press. If you have a book-in-progress looking for a home, please reach out to discuss your project! fordhampress.com/theoria

Lot of great stuff in the RLC section at SBL this year! Attend, ask questions, say hi, spread the word!

Think the marriage of convenience between the historically antisemitic far-right and the Israeli right has been bad for Diaspora Jews? Wait until you see the divorce.

A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.

Remarkably brilliant, experienced, and—other than Khan—surprisingly mainstream group of transition co-chairs for Mamdani. www.transition2025.com

One of my main takeaways from this election night is: I want some of whatever the @hellgateny.com livestream hosts are smoking

If only someone could have possibly predicted this might happen.

Can we at least give Canada a break on the tariffs now?

Co-sign

sure, you might not be able to eat or go to the doctor, but check out how nice Trump's new marble shitter is

This is a response to a post I made about a white man who was arrested yesterday with guns and ammo, planning to attack multiple synagogues across the US South. Personally, I think it is bad that a growing portion of the left now dismisses actual antisemitism as just being pro-Israel propaganda.

Lmao what (from today's Breaker newsletter)

Once again, the main day of Tea Party protests had about 300,000 nationwide, but saw endless coverage. The No Kings protests had about 7,000,000 nationwide, and many media outlets reacted with a yawn. No Kings was nearly 25x as big as the Tea Party but the Tea Party got 25x the attention.

A take for this first Sunday of early voting: Much of the Jewish pushback against Mamdani is in effect a reaction to the unstated realization that liberal democracy is in decline (or has failed)—and instead of doubling down on democracy, some have decided to push for more tribalism.

You sought to access her private gynecological records,” Mamdani said, re: what Cuomo's legal team did as part of the defense... “She cannot speak up for herself because you lodged a defamation case against her. I, however, can speak. What do you say to the 13 women that you sexually harassed?”

Dry run for stealing 2026 midterms.

I’m not being pejorative. Donald Trump isn’t an all powerful dictator, but he is effectively America’s king. He does not exist outside the law, he exists above the law *and* is the lawgiver. He doesn’t just have impunity, he has immunity. He is a king. This is what having a king looks like.

Suzanne Schneider: “Taken as a whole, the grant attempts to shore up the beleaguered concept of the “Judeo-Christian,” instilling the dangerous idea that antisemitism is best combatted by leaning upon supposed bonds of civilizational kinship.” jewishcurrents.org/the-meaning-...

Alright I’ve seen enough: Mike Brown for mayor of New York.

political instincts on fire, yucking it up with the incumbent mayor who stunk so bad he basically got booted from his party and then dropped out of the race

Brown’s coaching of the Knicks is night and day compared to that of Thibs. And—while acknowledging how much this team owes Thibs—I love to see it.

Chris Murphy: "There's a lot of history that has taken place in the East Wing & it was just destroyed without any conversation in the public, without any consent of Congress. It's absolutely illegal. That visual is powerful b/c you're watching destruction of the rule of law as those walls come down"

Scheduling a mayoral debate for the same time as the Knicks opener is ridiculous

How many classes today were canceled because a whole suite of EdTech services are built atop AWS? You know what platform never crashes?

federal agents stealing children and sending them south. where have i heard about that before?

you'd think a prominent news outlet like the New York Times might mention that "antifa" isn't an actual organization in a long story about antifa, but nope! and the subhead helps props up a false claim this professor was up to something seedy as something up for debate

Bray is a historian at Rutgers who received death threats after landing on Turning Points USA's Professor Watchlist. As a result, he announced he was moving to Europe. And then this happened. This kind of harassment and abuse of scholars is Charlie Kirk's legacy and it's only getting worse.

Increasingly feels like the “End of the Golden Age of American Jews” discourse is actually people upset with the end of *a certain kind* of Jewish politics and cultural visibility www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/b...