Bereishit

Alex Ozar drills down on the point of the Akeidah, responding to Herzl Hefter and Tzvi Sinensky.

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.

Laurance Wieder's After Adam was named the Book of the Year in 2019 by First Thing's John Wilson, but has been largely overlooked in the Jewish community. The Jewish Review of Book's Michal Leibowitz seeks to remedy this in her review of Wieder's lyrical retelling of the Bible.

Herzl Hefter provides critical perspective on a stream of Akeidah interpretation from Kierkegaard to the Rav

Joel Wolowelsky analyzes various midrashic readings of the Akedah.

Avraham’s challenge to God’s planned destruction of Sodom raises the fundamental ethical problem of collective punishment. The resolution of this challenge, Sruli Fruchter explains, enables Avraham to realize God’s highest ideals and to confront the conflict between compassion for oppressors and consideration for their victims.

Benjamin Barer traces the word Hevel through Jewish texts, showing how the use of the same word can teach us both about the wisdom of Kohelet we read this past Shabbat and the character of Hevel who we will read about in this week's Parashah.

Zohar Atkins presents a new poem on the Akeidah.

Eliezer Finkelman discusses the meaning of perfect repentance.

Ezra Sivan compares biblical covenants, the all-important circumcision of Abraham and Shabbat