Ve-Atah Banim Shiru La-Melekh – People Over Angels on Shavuot
What can a medieval piyut (and famous modern chassidic tune) teach us about people's superiority over angels? Yitzchak Szyf explores how our Shavuot liturgy proclaims man's partnership with God in Torah.
The Nightly Cry, the Song of Torah
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.
Torat Hashem Heftzo: Finding Wonder in Torah Study
Rabbi Kenneth Brander, head of Ohr Torah Stone, explores what the daily blessing on Talmud Torah can teach us about how to foster religious continuity.
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.
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.
Pesah and Shavuot, Or: Emancipation and Freedom
Jerome Marcus explores understandings of freedom within halakhah and how they relate to Pesah and Shavuot
No Assembly Required: The Individualized Aspects of the Shalosh Regalim
Michael Bernstein examines how the individual experience is ironically incorporated into holidays that are all about the community.
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.
Good Flies Out of its Prison
Abe Mezrich presents a poem on the Book of Ruth.
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