In Plain Sight: Jewish Masquerade from Clueless to the Rabbis
Why have stories of Jewish masquerade captured audiences since ancient times? In her latest, Malka Z. Simkovich explores the hidden meaning behind dressing up, from the Second Temple to '90s cinema.
Purim and the Joke of Jewish Sovereignty
Zach Truboff argues that Purim reminds us of our vulnerability even with the State of Israel.
“Miracles Do Not Happen at Every Hour”: Purim Drinking as anti-Christian Polemic
Eliav Grossman examines the Talmud's account of drinking on Purim, reading it as directed at Christian texts and traditions.
Epilogue
Tikva Hecht’s moving elegy for her mother, a lyric essay told in verse and art, reflects on the fragility of life and the final confession we recite in the Yom Kippur Amidah.
(Re)reading Shir ha-Shirim during Covid-19
Tzvi Sinensky argues compellingly for a new way to understand the relationship between Shir HaShirim and Pesach in times of quarantine.
The Nightly Cry, the Song of Torah
The call to learn Torah at night surprisingly comes from a verse in Lamentations. Yaakov Weinstein discusses what we can learn from this, and what it means for the practice of staying up on Shavuot.
Book Review: Haroset: A Taste of Jewish History by Susan Weingarten
Yakov Ellenbogen reviews Susan Weingarten's Haroset: A Taste of Jewish History.
The Rome not Taken: Pompey, Pigs, and the Implosion of Hasmonean Eschatology
Aton Holzer explores the changing nature of Jewish interactions with Rome from Maccabees through the Rabbinic period.
Ki Ani Hashem: A Literary Analysis of the Makkot
Joshua Shapiro explains how close readers of the Biblical text can find a unifying theory for reason behind the ten plagues.
An Obligation of Sight: Depictions of Suffering in the Haggadah
Ranana Dine explores the depictions of suffering in haggadot.
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