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.

Ezra Zuckerman Sivan examines the significance of the six barleys that Boaz gives Ruth in light of the story of Rachel, Leah, and the duda'im.

Yaakov Jaffe explores four themes of Psalm 24 as recited on the second day of Rosh Hashanah.

נמשלת ללבנה ניסן תשפ׳ו שושנה הברמן והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי .ולקחתי כאיילת השחר שבקע אורה ,כך היא גאולתן של ישראל ,בתחילה קימעא קימעא כל מה שהיא הולכת .היא רבה, והולכת ?היינו כחולמים -בזמן שהרועה תועה .תועין אחריו -אבל אפילו בצל...

The Ne’ilah prayer, which we recite only once a year, clearly represents a moment of great religious drama, but its precise nature and purpose are somewhat mysterious. Alan Jotkowitz presents four different models for understanding Ne’ilah, drawing upon the teachings of Rav Yehuda Amital, Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, and Rav Ya’akov Medan.

Ayelet Wenger offers a creative, intertextual reading of the story of Rabbi Akiva and the Wolf on the Temple Mount.

Can we imagine a world in which the Exodus never occurred? David Curwin suggests that this - as well as a broader dispute about the relationship between Torah and history - is subject to a dispute between The Rav, R. Joseph Dov he-Levi, and his namesake, the Beit ha-Levi.

This is Not a Poem and other soon-to-be-published high holiday poems by Yehiel Poupko.

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.

Special for Sukkot, we are honored to publish this piece by Rav Nahum Rabinovitch zz"l, appearing first the first time in print. Special thanks to Elli Fischer for translating and Koren for permission to publish.