Holidays

As the year turns from Elul to Tishrei, enjoy Ben Corvo's collection of poems relevant to the High Holiday themes and liturgy.

Joshua Shapiro explains how close readers of the Biblical text can find a unifying theory for reason behind the ten plagues.

Dan Ornstein explains how three Talmudic stories about mishloah manot and matanot le-evyonim on Purim can sensitize us to how to relate to the recipients of these gifts.

With Hoshanah Rabbah today and the theme of repentance in mind, Jack Cohen explores the role that outsiders play in one's teshuva process through an enigmatic midrash instructing one to return a person to themselves.

Pressed for time, people often skip reciting the korbanot section of the morning prayers. With the High Holidays approaching, Judah Kerbel makes the case that the korbanot are far more central and halakhically significant to our prayers than we often realize.

Yosef Lindell explores the true nature of the Aseret ha-Dibrot.

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.

In time for Tisha Be-Av, Marc Eichenbaum offers a meaningful new reading of Eikha using modern psychological concepts like grief, trauma, and narrative construction.

Dan Margulies offers a rundown of the sukkah zip-tie construction, the next great halakhic frontier

Rabbi Yaakov Jaffe comments on the poetry, context, and tension of Yehuda Ha-Levi's "Tziyon Halo Tishali" Kinnah.