Observation ·
The Confounding Origins of the Term “Hebrew”
By James A. DiamondThe word is freighted with both theological and national meaning, which points not just to a semantic tension but to a permanent tension within Jewish identity itself.
James A. Diamond
James A. Diamond is a professor of Jewish studies at the University of Waterloo. His books include Maimonides and the Shaping of the Jewish Canon (2014) and, most recently, Jewish Theology Unbound (2018).
Latest Content
Observation ·
The Heretic Whose Teachings the Talmud Preserved and Transmitted
By James A. DiamondElisha ben Avuyah became a vehicle for exploring the agonizing conundrums the rabbis were too honest to ignore but too pious to articulate.
Observation ·
The Buried, Raging Sermons of the Warsaw Ghetto Rabbi
By James A. DiamondSermons from the Years of Rage, 1939-1942 , hidden during the war and now released in a new edition, is a rabbinic work unlike any since the destruction of the First Temple.
Response ·
The Difference between a Biblical Scholar and a Philosopher
By James A. DiamondCommitted to developing and supporting the intellectual, religious, and political leaders of the Jewish people and the Jewish state.
