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Torah Flora

Plants and nature in Bible and Jewish tradition

Words over Wine

(Why do people make declarations over wine? February 2021)

Published February 28, 2021
Categorized as Blessings, Holidays, Passover, Sabbath Tagged Kiddush, wine

Fine Linen on Simchat Torah—A Symbol of Social Change

Why does it matter that Rachav hid Joshua’s spies under piles of flax? August 2020

Published August 20, 2020
Categorized as Holidays, Nature in Biblical Metaphor, Simchat Torah Tagged flax, Joshua

Wormwood and Self-Examination

Self justification can lead us down the road from chet to zadon, from carelessness to willful defiance, from rosh to la’anah.

Published September 14, 2018
Categorized as Holidays, Nature in Biblical Metaphor, Yom Kippur

Jonah and the Castor Bean

Jonah’s shade plant provides a graphic metaphor for the message of this Biblical book.

Published August 24, 2015
Categorized as Nature in Biblical Metaphor, Yom Kippur Tagged Castor bean, Jonah, Ricinus, Yom Kippur

Achashverosh–Bumbling King or Agricultural Pest Insect?

(The king of Persia in the book of Esther, the legend of The Wandering Jew, and entomology; February 2010)

Published February 24, 2010
Categorized as Purim Tagged Purim

Botany, Prophecy, and Theology

(Botany determines Jeremiah’s theology; August 2009)

Published August 17, 2009
Categorized as Land of Israel, Nature in Biblical Metaphor

Drug-free sabbath candles

(Hemp and the laws of Shabbat candles; July 2008, revised August 2008)

Published August 20, 2008
Categorized as Sabbath Tagged hemp, Sabbath

Pomegranate physics for Passover

(Wood anatomy, heat transfer, and the Paschal lamb; July 2008, revised Aug. 2008 and Aug. 2009)

Published August 20, 2008
Categorized as Passover Tagged date palm, Passover, pomegranate, wood

Environmentally sound Bible publishing

(Environmental certification of wood and paper; July 2008)

Published August 20, 2008
Categorized as Environmental Conservation Tagged Environmental Conservation

Saying no to bread worship

(Significance of yeast fermentation in pharaonic Egypt and Passover; July 2008)

Published August 20, 2008
Categorized as Passover Tagged bread, Passover

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Recent Essays

  • Words over Wine
  • Fine Linen on Simchat Torah—A Symbol of Social Change
  • Wormwood and Self-Examination
  • Jonah and the Castor Bean
  • Achashverosh–Bumbling King or Agricultural Pest Insect?

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