Jacob’s Silence and the Rape of Dinah

Ari Silbermann examines one of the most traumatic events in the Torah.

When Elijah’s Mantle Fell: The Judaism of Leonard Cohen

The Yom Kippur War was a defining moment in the life of poet Leonard Cohen, a moment when his entire spiritual destiny hung in the balance. Bezalel Naor on Cohen's priestly imagination.

When God Appeases Man: Yom Kippur in a Time of Exile

Yom Kippur marks the end of an 11 week period when thematic haftarot about the destruction of the Temple, consolation following its loss, and repentance replace haftarot connected to the weekly Torah reading. What can this grouping teach us about the nature of forgiveness and reconciliation? Hannah Abrams explains.

A Biblical Defense of Cities

Yehuda Goldberg explains how the Bible's depictions of the Tower of Babel and of Jerusalem teaches us about the risk and potential of cities.

Three Sonnets

Jeffrey Burghauser's three poems draw on the biblical and rabbinic imagination.

He Sent Out the Raven

Miriam Gedwiser explores the raven's role in parashat Noah

Aspects of My Father’s Philosophy of Jewish History

This essay by Aaron Zeitlin—originally published in Yiddish in 1967 and translated here into English by Daniel Kraft—explores Aaron’s father Hillel Zeitlin’s approach to anti-semitism by way of the Book of Jonah.

A Call For a New Modern Orthodox Humash

A call for a new Modern Orthodox Humash, and a history of the current ones, by Yosef Lindell.

Trajectories of Tradition: King David on Skin Lesions and Tent Impurities

AJ Berkovitz traces the reception history of a Midrash Tehillim that seems to equate the reading of Psalms with Torah study, offering a fascinating case study of how tradition evolves.

The Child at this Moment, the child that Could Become: A Torah Meditation in...

Dan Ornstein examines the rabbinic interpretation of the phrase "ba-asher hu sham," and applies it to the current conflict in Israel.