Bereishit

Ben Greenfield explains that the attributes commonly associated with our forefathers are not attributes at which they excelled, but rather attributes with which they struggled.

Yakov Nagen examines the opening chapters of Genesis to explore what God wanted from people for matan Torah.

Building on ideas from Jacques Lacan and Rabbeinu Bahya ibn Pakuda, Zach Truboff offers an innovative psychological reading of the Cain and Abel story.

Yisroel Ben-Porat analyzes a Midrash offering non-misogynistic takes on the original sin.

Marc Eichenbaum explores the idea of guilt and shame cultures in the thought of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z"tl, which provides a novel interpretation of Torah and a powerful lesson for contemporary society.

David Curwin explores the evidence that Jacob may have made a fatal mistake in not conquering Canaan upon returning.

Did Rabbeinu Bahya mention a lightning rod centuries before it was discovered? Yaakov Taubes takes us on a journey through science, magic, and religion to help explain this medieval commentator’s cryptic comment about the Tower of Babel.

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.

Tammy Jacobowitz reviews David Forman's latest book, a companion to Sefer Bereishit, and finds engaging, instructive literary analysis that pulls new insights from familiar stories.

Sharing his Torah commentaries in English for the first time, Nissim Bellahsen of France examines the role of Moses in the atonement for Joseph's sale.