Lebanon’s Trial of the Century Ends Hizballah’s Charade, but Leaves Its Knife at the Country’s Throat
For Rafik Hariri, only a small step toward justice.
August 21, 2020
A 16th-Century Collection of Kabbalistic Magic, and the Story behind It
Elisha ben Gad’s Tree of Knowledge.
The great scholar of Jewish mysticism Gershom Scholem distinguished between “speculative” Kabbalah, which focuses on understanding the esoteric meanings of Jewish texts and the mysterious workings of the Godhead, and “practical” Kabbalah, which focuses on harnessing esoteric knowledge to achieve useful results—healing the sick or arranging successful marriages, for instance. Zsofi Buda describes a rare handwritten 16th-century volume belonging to the latter genre, written by one Elisha ben Gad of Ancona. What makes this codex unusual is its introduction, in which Elisha describes how he collected the spells it contains:
August 21, 2020
How Might Iran Respond to Israeli or American Sabotage?
Its bark exceeds its bite—but bite it will.
How India’s Bene Israel Helped to Build the Jewish State
They came to Israel not out of fear of persecution but out of love for their homeland.
Remembering Ruth Gavison, a Great Zionist Thinker
Deeply rooted, but with cosmopolitan horizons.
A 16th-Century Collection of Kabbalistic Magic, and the Story behind It
Elisha ben Gad’s Tree of Knowledge.