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.

Addressing a recent meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Central Committee, Mahmoud Abbas criticized Hamas more sharply than he has previously (at least in public), calling them “sons of dogs.” The eighty-nine-year-old Palestinian Authority president urged the terrorist group to “stop the war of extermination in Gaza” and “hand over the American hostages.” The editors of the New York Sun comment:

Mr. Abbas has long been at odds with Hamas, which violently ousted his Fatah party from Gaza in 2007. The tone of today’s outburst, though, is new. Comparing rivals to canines, which Arabs consider dirty, is startling. Its motivation, though, was unrelated to the plight of the 59 remaining hostages, including 23 living ones. Instead, it was an attempt to use an opportune moment for reviving Abbas’s receding clout.

[W]hile Hamas’s popularity among Palestinians soared after its orgy of killing on October 7, 2023, it is now sinking. The terrorists are hoarding Gaza aid caches that Israel declines to replenish. As the war drags on, anti-Hamas protests rage across the Strip. Polls show that Hamas’s previously elevated support among West Bank Arabs is also down. Striking the iron while it’s hot, Abbas apparently longs to retake center stage. Can he?

Diminishing support for Hamas is yet to match the contempt Arabs feel toward Abbas himself. Hamas considers him irrelevant for what it calls “the resistance.”

[Meanwhile], Abbas is yet to condemn Hamas’s October 7 massacre. His recent announcement of ending alms for terror is a ruse.

Abbas, it’s worth noting, hasn’t saved all his epithets for Hamas. He also twice said of the Americans, “may their fathers be cursed.” Of course, after a long career of anti-Semitic incitement, Abbas can’t be expected to have a moral awakening. Nor is there much incentive for him to fake one. But, like the protests in Gaza, Abbas’s recent diatribe is a sign that Hamas is perceived as weak and that its stock is sinking.