David Sedley, at The Blogs

Aug 30, 2024, 8:00 PM

False prophets and dreamers: Parshat Re’eh

The entrance to Mother Shipton's cave in Knaresborough. (CC BY, Chris/ Wikimedia Commons)

About half an hour north of where we once lived in Leeds is a sign pointing to “Mother Shipton’s Cave.” I regret now that we never took a detour to visit that cave. On its website, Mother Shipton’s Cave bills...

Aug 9, 2024, 7:06 PM

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The Torah speaks of giants, but did they exist?

Circus men and charlatans had their answer, but Moses recalls that Og's bed was made of iron - and therein lies the lesson of the giants (Devarim)

May 17, 2024, 4:43 PM

Speaking of peace: Parshat Emor

Portrait of John Dee aged 67. (Public Domain/ WIkimedia Commons)

John Dee was the court astronomer and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, but he was also a sorcerer. He envisioned himself as Merlin to her Arthur. Born in 1527, Dee entered Cambridge university aged 15 and became a fellow of...

May 1, 2024, 4:16 PM

The Dangers of Dynasty — Parshat Acharei Mot

Stephen, as imagined by a non-contemporary unknown artist, about 1620. (Public Domain/ Wikimedia Commons)

The haftarah we read on the seventh day of Passover has King David, near the end of his life, singing a song of praise for all that God has given him. It ends with the verse, “He is a...

Jan 5, 2024, 3:46 PM

The Great Stork Derby: Parshat Shemot

The Ambrose Harrison family with 14 children, eight born during the Great Stork Derby. (Public Domain/ St. Louis Post Dispatch 1936)

Few practical jokes impacted as many lives as those of Charles Vance Millar. Millar was born on June 28, 1854, on a farm in Canada, near Aylmer, Ontario, the only child of Simon and Sarah Millar. As he grew older,...

Dec 29, 2023, 4:29 PM

Jews for Hitler – Parshat Vayechi

Headline about Max Neumann in Buffalo Jewish Review, August 31, 1934

Theodore Herzl, as everyone knows, was an Austrian lawyer who is considered the father of modern political Zionism. It is also well known that before he decided to become an advocate for a return to Zion, he felt that...

Nov 1, 2023, 10:30 AM

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One book to rule them all

Frontispiece of Cyclopedia, 'L'Académie des sciences et des beaux-arts' (Public Domain/ Archive.org)

Since nobody can know everything, focus on what is essential - whether it's found in an encyclopedia or in the Torah (Haazinu)

Aug 25, 2023, 8:04 PM

Mother birds and extinction: Parshat Ki Tetzei

North American Bison. (Kurt Kaiser, Public Domain/ Wikimedia Commons)

Usually, I try to write about people who I think are heroes on some level. Sometimes, those people also acted in ways which were not heroic, but that is usually incidental to their greatness. However, Madison Grant is not like...

Aug 11, 2023, 7:27 PM

The Eliza effect, AI and modern idols: Parshat Re’eh

Joseph Weizenbaum (r) in 2006. (CC BY, Andreas Schepers/ Wikimedia Commons)

Using Waze in New Zealand is a very different experience, mainly because it speaks with a Kiwi accent and is so polite. “Let’s take State Highway 29, Te Poi Road (north) heading towards Matamata.” Don’t let the phrase “State...

About Me

David Sedley lives in Jerusalem with his wife and children. He has been at various times a teacher, translator, author, community rabbi, journalist and video producer. He currently teaches online at WebYeshiva. Born and bred in New Zealand, he is usually a Grinch, except when the All Blacks win. And he also plays a loud razzberry-colored electric guitar. Check out my website, rabbisedley.com