Within the laws about the Tabernacle is a collection of laws that modern scholars call the “Holiness Collection” because of its persistent concern for holiness. While it includes further rules about the Tabernacle and the priests, it extends the concept of holiness to the people as a whole. It charges them to become holy like God and incorporates ethical and social laws into the regimen for achieving holiness, such as the requirement to love one’s fellow as oneself (Leviticus 19:18) and laws against incest (Leviticus 18 and 20), as well as a comprehensive calendar of holy days (Leviticus 23) and the sabbatical and jubilee years (Leviticus 25). It concludes with a long list of blessings for obeying God’s laws and curses for disobeying (Leviticus 26).
This agate seal with an image of a rooster was found in a Roman-period tomb at Tell en-Nasbeh (Mizpah), but its script dates it to the late seventh or early sixth century BCE. The bottom register…
The Mikve Israel-Emanuel is a synagogue that served the Spanish Portuguese Jewish community in Curaçao (and continues to function today as a Reconstructionist congregation). This synagogue is the…
This ritual scene was carved twice on a cylindrical ivory box from Hazor, about 2.7 inches high and 2.2 inches in diameter (7 × 6 cm). A kneeling man raises his hands in prayer toward a stylized tree…