Bereishit

Malka Simkovich compares the narratives of Noah and Lot, and the ways their stories trigger the beginnings of rival nations of Bnei Yisrael.

In this winning essay of the Ateret Zvi Prize, Dr. Ethan Schwartz analyzes the Yamim Nora'im experience and interpretations of what happened to Korah's children.

Following the World Zionist Congress, Gabriel Slamovits reflects on the significance of the event and how the journey of Avraham and Sarah in Parshat Lech Lecha informs the future.

Sarah's conspicuous absence from the dramatic Akeidah narrative is the subject of both traditional and scholarly interpretation. Michael Wolff offers an approach through the lens of gender roles.

Yisroel Benporat juxtaposes the Akeidah with the Splitting of the Sea as similar tests of faith.

Jordan Soffer examines the two narratives of Calev and Yitro through a lens of effective community leadership.

Surprisingly, Bible scholars have not addressed the remarkable intertextual conversation between Jacob's blessings in Genesis 49 and Deborah's song in Judges 5. Michael Bernstein offers his original etymological analysis of the two poetic texts.

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

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.