Humash

In honor of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks’s 70th birthday, Ari Lamm explores his legacy as a biblical commentator.

Dan Jutan locates a fascinating meta-narrative within Rashi's commentary.

Ezra Zuckerman Sivan explains what it means when the Torah says that Moses's burial site was hidden.

Eileen Watts examines the similarities between Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Rav Soloveitchik's Lonely Man of Faith.

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

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.

In this piece, Shimi Kaufman considers ways of interpreting the intentions surrounding the enjoyment of Shabbat.

For Eve Grubin, Bilam's hidden messages is a lesson for the Torah and for life.

Jacob is described in Rabbinic thought as a pursuer of truth, but many have questioned whether this aligns with the simple reading of the text. Gavriel Lakser argues that a close reading shows that it does, even if he made some mistakes along the way.

In this essay, written in honor of Yom Yerushalayim, Bezalel Naor explores the differing visions for the ideal state held by Plato and the Rabbis, Maimonides and Rabbi Nahman of Breslov.