Shavuot

The biblical account of the holiday we refer to as Shavuot bears no relationship at all to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The emergence of the association between this harvest festival and the Sinai covenant has therefore occupied both traditional and academic thinkers for centuries. Tzvika Aviv argues for a previously unexplored approach to the question, one which bridges the mystical insights of the Zohar with current scientific knowledge regarding wheat genetics.

Ben Lorber reflects on the meaning of ya'aleh ve-yavo.

Ezra Sivan challenges our understanding of the fifth commandment and all of Sefer Devarim.

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.

Abe Mezrich presents a poem on the Book of Ruth.

Can individual autonomy be reconciled with the practice of Halakhah? It can and must, insisted Rav Nachum Rabinovich zz"l. In honor of Rav Rabinovich's sheloshim this past Thursday, David Silverstein explains.

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.

Ezra Sivan presents a new analysis of Shabbat and how it throws light on so much more in the Torah.

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

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.