Philo of Alexandria (ca. 20 BCE–50 CE) was the first person to write books explaining Judaism to a non-Jewish audience, the first to record a description of a pogrom, the first to try to reconcile Judaism with Greek thought, and the first to write about Judaism in the idiom of Western philosophy. He is also difficult to place in Jewish history: it is unclear whether he knew of the early rabbis or they of him; later Jewish thought paid no attention to him until around the 16th century; and his allegorical readings of the Bible differ greatly from the approaches favored by rabbinic Judaism. In fact, his work was largely preserved because of ancient Christian authors.

In this discussion with J.J. Kimche, Maren Niehoff explains Philo’s life and work and argues that he is much closer to the Jewish mainstream than generally assumed, noting that he wrote extensively about Jewish law and that his biblical commentaries—which pose textual difficulties, acknowledge multiple opinions, and engage in argument—have much in common with their rabbinic counterparts.

Israel’s goals of freeing the hostages and defeating Hamas (the latter necessary to prevent further hostage taking) are to some extent contradictory, since Yahya Sinwar, the ruler of the Gaza Strip, will only turn over hostages in exchange for concessions. But Jacob Nagel remains convinced that Jerusalem should continue to pursue both goals:

Only consistent military pressure on Hamas can lead to the hostages’ release, either through negotiation or military operation. There’s little chance of reaching a deal with Hamas using current approaches, including the latest Egyptian proposal. Israeli concessions would only encourage further pressure from Hamas.

There is no incentive for Hamas to agree to a deal, especially since it believes it can achieve its full objectives without one. Unfortunately, many contribute to this belief, mainly from outside of Israel, but also from within.

Recent months saw Israel mistakenly refraining from entering Rafah for several reasons. Initially, the main [reason was to try] to negotiate a deal with Hamas. However, as it became clear that Hamas was uninterested, and its only goal was to return to its situation before October 7—where Hamas and its leadership control Gaza, Israeli forces are out, and there are no changes in the borders—the deal didn’t mature.