Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Jacob Isaacs
What Does Judaism Tell Us About Abimelech, King of the Philistines?
The Philistines play an outsized role in Jewish history, from the times of the Patriarchs down to the era of King David, and it all starts with their king, Abimelech, and his interactions with Abraham and Sarah, and (either his or his son’s) with Isaac and Rebecca. In particular, Abimelech’s treaties with the Patriarchs continued to have aftereffects centuries later. Who was this king, and how did he become so significant? Read on to see how he is treated in Scripture and the writings of the sages.
The Untold Story of Lot and His Daughters
The narrative of Lot and his two daughters, whose unions in a cave just after the destruction of Sodom birthed two nations, is perhaps one of the most perplexing and hotly debated stories in all of the Pentateuch. Over the centuries, the incest between Lot and his daughters has raised many questions, debates, and theories among scholars and laymen alike, while the story itself gained much traction in Renaissance biblical art.
A Brief Biblical History - From Our People: A History of the Jews
How to Celebrate Purim Jew: Yehudi (יְהוּדִי) 10 Facts About the Fast of Esther Every Jew Should Know 7 Traditional Purim Recipes That Aren't Hamantaschen A Birthday Present from Above 10 Critical Lessons From Haman to Counter Hamas Thornhill Woods Grieves Family Lost in Plane Crash A New Mikvah Opens in Capital of Oregon Purim and the Betrayal of American Jewry Faith Over Fate Ft. Lauderdale Names Central City Block ‘Chabad Drive’ Take the Haman Quiz Our Divine Calling How to Keep Halachah...
Habakkuk
Habakkuk's chief message was a sad prophecy of the triumph of the Chaldeans (Babylonians) over Israel. He warns his people of the Divine retribution which would come swiftly and overwhelmingly; "How long, O L-rd, shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save..." G‑d's answer follows: "Behold, I will raise the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, that march to the wide spaces of the earth to conquer dwelling-places that are not theirs.
Zephaniah
The prophet Zephaniah proclaimed his prophecy to the people of Judah during the reign of King Josiah. Little is known of his background except that he was a descendant of King Hezekiah. Coming of such noble stock, he must have been familiar with the life of the nobility in the capital and of the royal house.
Israel's Enslavement
Beginning of Oppression Joseph and his brothers died, and the children of Israel multiplied in the land of Egypt. They held important positions and played an important role in the political, cultural, and economic life of the country. It is not surprising that they stirred the jealousy of the native Egyptians who felt outshone by the "foreigners." Old King Pharaoh died, too, and a new king ascended the throne.
The Life of Our Forefather Abraham
Abram’s Family One of the most important persons at Nimrod’s court in Ur of the Chaldees in Babel, or Babylonia, was Terah, the son of Nahor, a great-great grandson of Eber. Terah had three sons, Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Abram’s Birth The night before Abram was born, Nimrod’s astrologers were gathered at Terah’s house. Looking out into the night sky, they read in the constellation of the stars that the newly born child was to become the chief and the father of a mighty nation.
Making sense of death from inside a Jewish funeral home
The first death in my family that I remember came when I was 15, in the fall of my sophomore year of high school. It came and went so fast that I never got a chance to come to terms with it. I focused so much on the sheer shock of losing my grandfather that I did not stop to reflect. Our tradition is meant to support us in moments of adversity, but I did not know where to begin. Without understanding how to respond to death, I felt lost. That sense of disorientation has never quite left me.
Spring 2019 Issue 1 | The Carletonian | Carleton College
Only in the past year did I learn that Northfield is the third least affordable area to live in Minnesota, after the Twin Cities and Rochester. As a junior here, on an almost exclusively residential campus, I once rarely thought about housing in Northfield, mistakenly assuming that the city was immune to the housing crisis that plagues my hometown in the Bay Area. I lived on campus; what happened outside the Carleton bubble existed outside my comprehension.
Environmental Calcium Initiates a Feed-Forward Signaling Circuit That Regulates Biofilm Formation and Rugosity in Vibrio vulnificus
ABSTRACTPoor clinical outcomes (disfigurement, amputation, and death) and significant economic losses in the aquaculture industry can be attributed to the potent opportunistic human pathogen Vibrio vulnificus. V. vulnificus, as well as the bivalves (oysters) it naturally colonizes, is indigenous to estuaries and human-inhabited coastal regions and must endure constantly changing environmental conditions as freshwater and seawater enter, mix, and exit the water column.
At Princeton University, Jewish Life Is Thriving
Email a copy of "At Princeton University, Jewish Life Is Thriving" to a friend The following was written as a response to The Algemeiner’s 2018 list of the most challenging North American campuses for Jewish students. Jewish life at Princeton University is thriving. Every week, nearly 300 students attend Shabbat dinners between Chabad and the Center for Jewish Life.
Isaac’s Wells
Three Torah sections—Lech Lecha, Vayeira and Chayei Sarah—chronicle the life and deeds of Abraham. An even greater number are devoted to the life of Jacob. Isaac is the central figure in only one—the Parshah of Toldot. We read of the “Binding of Isaac” in Vayeira, but there the story is told wholly from Abraham’s perspective. Similarly, the greater part of Chayei Sarah is about how a wife is found for Isaac, but Isaac himself is not at all involved in the process.
Creation of the World
The Creation The word of G‑d brought everything into being: heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, and every living thing. In the beginning, G‑d called into existence the heaven and earth. Within six days He shaped a world of order and beauty. The First Day On the first day, G‑d said, “Let there be Light” — and there was Light. The Second Day On the second day G‑d made the sky, and called it Heaven. The Third Day On the third day, G‑d put the earth into good shape.
Clay Vessels and You
A woman, the wife of one of the prophets, cried out to Elisha: “My husband, your servant, has died . . . and the creditor has come to take my two sons as slaves.” Said Elisha to her: “. . . Tell me, what have you in your home?” And she answered: “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a cruse of oil.” Said [Elisha]: “Go, borrow vessels . . . from all your neighbors; empty vessels, only that they not be few. . . . And pour [of your oil] into these vessels . .
The Stolen Blessings
The story of the stolen blessings is often understood as a contest between the two brothers for the legacy of Abraham and Isaac, with Isaac mistakenly taking Esau to be the worthy heir, and Rebecca, knowing the true nature of her elder son, devising the plan that would place Jacob at Isaac's bedside at the crucial moment. However, a closer reading of the Torah's account indicates that Isaac was well aware of the difference between his two children.
The Exodus
The Exodus from Egypt Thus the children of Israel were liberated from the yoke of their oppressors on the fifteenth day of Nissan in the year 2448 after the creation of the world. There were 600,000 men over 20 years of age, with their wives and children, and flocks, crossing the border of Egypt that day a free nation. Many Egyptians and other non-Israelites joined the triumphant children of Israel, hoping to share their glorious future. The children of Israel did not leave Egypt destitute.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Jacob
Contact Jacob, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack