Tanakh

Ethan Schwartz reviews Yitchak Etshalom’s new volume on the prophet Amos, considering ways in which the author succeeds and fails to recreate the divine roar of Amos’ message.

Ezra Zuckerman Sivan explains the connection between Shabbat and the Tabernacle.

In many siddurim, Six Remembrances from biblical Jewish history are printed following the morning service. They do not appear chronologically, nor in their order of appearance in the Torah. This article suggests that their arrangement forms an arc emphasizing the importance of Jewish education.as a bridge to the future.

The biblical figure of Esther is often interpreted by traditional and modern commentators as a heroine of active leadership. Naama Sadan offers a novel perspective, according to which Esther confronts national crisis in female-coded ways, triumphing and saving her people through internally-focused activism.

Mollie Fish reviews Mitchell First’s new book, From Eden to Exodus: A Journey into Hebrew Words in Bereshit and Shemot.

Gavriel Lakser offers a new approach to the problem of evil based on the beginning of Genesis.

Is Jewish stubbornness a stereotype or a source of pride? In the Torah, it appears as a criticism, but also as a veiled praise for the people of Israel’s unique power of commitment. Zach Truboff highlights this strength in an application of the words of the Piaseczner Rebbe to our current moment of crisis.

The Mei Ha-Shiloah’s statements on predetermination pose a theological challenge to foundational Jewish doctrines. In an analysis weaving together several Torah narratives and Izhbitzer commentaries, Reuven Boshnack proposes an empowering interpretation of the Mei Ha-Shiloah.

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

The stories of Hagar and Ishmael's banishment and subsequent rescue by the angel and that of a cast-out baby Moses on the Nile rescued by Pharaoh's daughter are seemingly dissimilar, but this close reading by David Curwin argues that their strong parallels have a lesson to teach about the importance of being active and not succumbing to passivity.