Pesah

What led the Rabbis of the Seder to present Laban as a more diabolical enemy of the Jews than Pharaoh? Erica Brown shows how Laban took advantage of Jacob's insecurities as he arrived empty-handed at Laban's home.

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.

How can we respond to a Seder during which it is prohibited to host guests? Yitzchak Etshalom and David Block each offer unique tefillot to be recited at our Seder table this year.

Ross Weissman offers a stirring poem on hope during the trying times of coronavirus.

Ezra Sivan probes the Sabbath and the Torah's call to love God.

Leah Cypess imagines the what-ifs of Pesach cleaning.

Ezra Sivan follows up last year's piece about how the Exodus leveled social boundaries with an article about what the Pesah story teaches us about social distancing today.

Yakov Ellenbogen reviews Susan Weingarten's Haroset: A Taste of Jewish History.

Why did the women bring musical instruments out of Egypt? In her first Lehrhaus article, musicologist Rebecca Cypess draws a fascinating historical analogy between biblical and African-American slavery to shed light on the Exodus in Jewish tradition.

Shmuel Lubin analyzes Rav Hutner's interpretation of the Passover Seder and expands on Rav Hutner's commentary surrounding the contrast of freedom and suffering.