Bava Batra 112 - Alfred Dreyfus's Legacy

Today's Talmud page, Bava Batra 112, finds the rabbis talking about death, dying, burial plots, and questions of inheritance. And when we think about Jews who have left behind a legacy that continues to edify and inspire, few shine more brightly than Captain Alfred Dreyfus, whose arrest, trial, and exoneration forced Europe to question its hatred of the Jews and inspired the Jews to flock to Zionism and fight for the establishment of a Jewish homeland. Commemorating the 130th anniversary of Dreyfus's arrest, and the fact that the same questions it raised continue to haunt us with renewed and terrifying vigor since October 7, 2023, Tablet Studios produced Dreyfus: A Very Modern Affair, a limited-run series about the case and its contemporary implications. How is the state of Israel a sort of Dreyfus for the modern world? Listen and find out.

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We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.