Scholarship

Warren Zev Harvey reflects on the pain and fear of Israel’s current moment, finding unexpected hope in R. Joseph Kaspi’s anti-deterministic theory of history. The essay was originally published in Hebrew and translated by the author.

David Schwartz explores thematic similarities between the Hanukkah miracle and Pharaoh’s dreams.

The dynamic conversation continues with three letters to the editor widening our perspective on Torah u-Madda. Steve Gotlib grapples with the challenges of living Torah u-Madda in the real world; Ezequiel Antebi Sacca adds a Sephardic view from Argentina; and Eugene Korn adds insight to the Jewish view on Christianity.

Drawing upon the teachings of the Piaseczner Rebbe, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, and others, Yiscah Smith proposes a model for reimagining contemporary Jewish leadership on both the communal and personal levels.

Daniel Goldberg examines how four versions of a Midrash about Shemini Atzeret reflect different aspects of the Jewish people's relationship with God.

Ayelet Wenger weaves together the personal, historical and exegetical in advance of reading Sefer Shemot.

In his letter to the editor, Gershon Klapper draws upon three medieval sources that undermine Ben Greenfield's recent reading of the Zohar on the three attributes of the Avot.

Tzvi Sinensky responds to Herzl Hefter's Akeida essay.

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.

Aton Holzer offers a novel interpretation of Isaiah 53 based on current events in Israel.