News & From the Archives, Summer 2024
🌞 A periodic update from Stories from Jewish History—what's happening, what's coming up, and what you should read until next week's newsletter.
Tomorrow, I will be taking my second set of comprehensive oral exams (!)—this time, in core areas of Halacha (Jewish law). I also wrote a teshuva (a halachic thesis, basically) about the use of eReaders on Shabbat; as well as being a big Jewish history nerd, I am also prone to theoretical discussions of things like electromagnetism in Jewish law. (Not-so-groundbreaking spoiler alert, we can’t use eReaders—but the why of that is just so fascinating. Electricity aside, I got deep into e-ink technology and Mochek, erasure.) So, if you missed getting a delivery in your inbox yesterday, it’s because my best intentions, and the week, got away from me. In lieu of that, I wanted to share with you some updates and reading suggestions until next week’s newsletter goes out.
Publishing Schedule Updates
As I settle into this wonderful writerly role that you all make possible, I’m always thinking of ways to make this newsletter better within the annoyingly persistent constraints of time and work and life. My initial goal was to send a free weekly newsletter every week and a special monthly issue as well. However, I’m realizing that writing two newsletters during one week per month is unrealistic. I’ll still be sending out a newsletter every Tuesday. The main newsletter, which is and will remain completely free, will go out three times a month. Once a month, near the beginning of the Hebrew month, I’m moving to sending a paid subscriber email, with a preview for free subscribers.
So far, I’ve been taking breaks on an as-needed basis. For more consistency and transparency, I’m now planning on taking two scheduled breaks a year, one at Pesach (Passover) time and one in the summer. Otherwise, you can expect your weekly newsletter in your inbox, with day-of-the-week adjustments as needed for holidays.
Get in Touch!
Friends, this week was not the only thing that got away from me. My various inboxes have been a disaster zone lately. (Is there an app that will consolidate messaging apps, emails, and DMs yet?) This is to say, please accept my sincere apologies if you have been trying to get in touch with me and haven’t heard back, or just started to wonder if I was trapped under a heavy object due to my abysmal response time.
At the top of my priority list is getting back on top of communications. I’ve just aggressively set approximately seventeen hundred filters on my Gmail, so please don’t hesitate to reach out, or reach out again. I know I’m also behind on responding to comments here on Substack—please know that I read and appreciate each one. Here are the best ways to contact me:
Email—you can also hit reply to any newsletter that comes into your inbox
Add a comment to any newsletter
Chat or DM me on Substack (the DM option is a recently-added feature)
DM me on X (I tried out the other text-based alternatives and decided to stick with new Twitter, with all its issues)
I’m looking forward to having a more open schedule as this ultra-busy semester ends (uh, this small thing called aliyah notwithstanding).
Upcoming Series: I Need Your Opinion
My personal library of books is currently somewhere in the Atlantic ocean en route to Israel (the shipping company trucked our stuff to the east coast for shipping), so I had to get creative with upcoming series. Following the current series on the history of Kabbala, which will take us up to my summer break, I’m planning to do a companion series on medieval Jewish philosophy. Happily, most of the texts I need are available in excellent editions online and it’s s a subject I love and have taught many times.
After the philosophers, I have several ideas lined up for series and need your input on what you’re most excited to read about:
I would also love to hear your own ideas, wish-list topics, curiosities, and even what you’re less interested in. Please write to me (you can hit reply to this email) and let me know.
Catch up on Kabbala
If you’ve missed any of the current Kabbala series, you can catch up with these quick links below (in order):
The series will continue with the circles of mystics in Tzfat (Safed), including R. Yosef Karo, R. Yaakov Beirav, R. Moshe Cordovero, the Arizal, and R. Chaim Vital; Kabbala (and anti-Kabbalistic attitudes) in Italy; and more.
Kabbalistic Rishonim You Should Meet
Two of the great Rishonim I’ve written about were also great in Kabbala, in case you haven’t made their acquaintance yet:
See you next Tuesday!
Will the teshuva be published?
Thank you for everything that you do! Love Stories of Jewish History.
Since it seems that the monthly subscriber post is going to be taking a new route, can you make a PDF of all the ones until now? That would be awesome. And obviously if and when you have the time. (And it’s from Sivan of last year until now, Iyar, so a perfect one year cycle).
We’re all excited for what’s coming next!