Holidays

How can the mitzvot of Purim reveal the feminist ethics of the Megillah? Aton Holzer offers an enlightening new reading of the Megillah, suggesting that there is a profound connection between the text's structure and its ethics.

How should people contend with emotionally charged texts such as the ending of Megillat Esther? Tzvi Sinensky details methodological principles for engaging in textual dialogue, and applies these principles in an exploration of the nuances of the ending of Megillat Esther.

Was the teiva an attempt to save Moshe's life? David Fried challenges our assumptions about the purpose of the wicker basket in the river.

Esther Lindell reviews “The Haggadah about Nothing,” Rabbi Sam Reinstein’s not-too-serious exploration of how the Haggadah relates to Seinfeld, the ever-popular 90s sitcom.

Several reasons are given in our tradition about the reason for the fast on the Tenth of Tevet. The liturgy for the day takes a stand on what the true reasons are, but Yaakov Jaffe questions whether this stand is the right one.

On Yom Ha'atzmaut, Zach Truboff reflects on Rav Shagar's insistence that the Israeli present must be rooted in the past, and explores the redemptive power of Torah as an answer for modernity.

Why does the Tosefta accuse the Jews of being deceitful at Sinai? Worse still, why is God portrayed as being complicit in their deception? Ahead of Shavuot, Sara Wolkenfeld explains.

For Parshat Zakhor, this short story by Shira Eliaser richly imagines the world of King Saul and the clandestine encounter that brought Haman’s Amalekite ancestors into the world.

Natan Oliff explores the theological implications of teshuva in a world that is God’s prescripted story.

Eli Genauer explores the profound impact of a printing error on the halakhot of Pesah.