Manna, Mitzvot, and Meaning
Ned Krasnopolsky explores the roles of meaning and obedience in matan Torah.
First Fruits: A Selection of Poems on Mishnah Bikkurim 3
In honor of Shavuot 5784, Dalia Wolfson presents five new bilingual poems that explore the themes of the third perek of Mishnah Bikkurim and contemplate their possible inversion.
Giving Shape to Abstraction: Illustrating Redemption in the Book of Ruth
Benjamin Marcus was commissioned to create illustrations for an illuminated manuscript of the Book of Ruth. In this one-of-a-kind article, he shares his challenges, his discoveries, and his art.
Revealing the Hidden Face of God’s Love
Josh Cahan
Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 12:11R. Lazar said: Like a king who wished to marry a well-born noblewoman, and said, “I will not wed her...
Modest, Ethical, Scholarly, or Inventive Perspectives on Ruth, a Biblical Heroine
Yaakov Jaffe examines different views on which of Ruth's attributes first sparked Boaz's attention, and explores what that means about how we define a Jewish hero.
The Written Law
In this whimsical story, David Zvi Kalman takes an information theory perspective in tackling what it might have been like for Moses to receive the Law.
Duplicity at Sinai
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.
In Six Barleys were Wrapped an Enduring Legacy
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.
Yatziv Pitgam: Poetry as Talmud Commentary
How should we understand Yatziv Pitgam, the enigmatic poem recited in the Haftarah for the second day of Shavuot? Tzvi Novick’s close reading reveals it to be a paean to the Torah and those who study it.
Across the River
In this riveting short story, Leah Cypess retells a medieval Shavuot legend of how a Jewish community was saved from a deadly sorcerer.
Site Operations and Technology by The Berman Consulting Group.