Author: Ben Zion

The history and significance of the city: Yafo. There is a tradition that Yafo was named after Japheth, the son of Noah. And that Noah himself is buried under the Andromeda Rock, a well-known rock near the shores of Yafo. Is there a source for this? We`ll see what AI has to say about that..…

First, we will see another angle on the subject of the Mediterranean Sea in the days of Genesis. Does this contradict what we learned in Lecture 3? And getting back to Jaffa: There are only 4 mentions of Jaffa in the Bible, but we can learn from them the recurring theme associated with Jaffa: a…

Is the Mediterranean part of the Land of Israel? This time we will see the surprising implications of this discussion: Is someone who lives in France and Spain also considered to be living in the Land of Israel? We will also learn the halachic ruling regarding going on a trip abroad. And we will begin…

Is the sea itself part of the Land of Israel? And if so, to what extent? Has someone who bathes in the sea gone abroad? We will look at the different opinions that already appear in the Mishnah – from the opinion that only the sea adjacent to the coast is considered part of the…

What are the halachic implications of the surprising discovery from the previous lecture? We will examine the halachic discussion on the question – what blessing do we say when we see the Mediterranean Sea and what blessing do we say when we see the ocean? What do we mean when we say, in the blessing:…