Holidays

Ezra Sivan asks: Where is the justice in the tenth plague?

Tzvi Sinensky on the lost Menorah, the Vatican theory, and the ideology of the search and mythology.

Zach Truboff draws on personal experience in considering the place of Yizkor on Yom Tov.

As we reflect on ever-present evil by reading Parashat Zakhor this Shabbat amidst the shocking human tragedy of the war in Ukraine, Zach Truboff brings to light a derasha by Rav Moshe Avigdor Amiel written a century ago that speaks to this very moment.

Eli Rubin presents a stirring passage from the Zohar, with the Lubavitcher Rebbe's commentary.

Ezra Zuckerman Sivan examines how the yibbum triangle of Ruth, Tamar, and Lot's daughters teaches us how to rebuild our lives in a time of upheaval.

How does Reish Lakish’s classic view of repentance help to account for the tragic dissolution of his relationship with Rabbi Yohanan?

Shira Hecht-Koller and Aaron Koller explore the worship of the Kohen Gadol through the voice of Ishay Ribo.

Countless explanations have been offered to explain the debate between Beit Hillel and Beit Shamai as to whether we light the Hanukkah candles in ascending or descending order. Yet remarkably, Hannah Abrams manages to offer a strikingly novel reading of this debate. Her analysis is well worth the read.

Yosef Lindell examines how Yehudah ha-Levi's kinnah about the bubbling blood of Zechariah modifies the story found in Talmudic sources and thus tackles the question of theodicy.