Humash

Lehrhaus Editor Shlomo Zuckier examines two divergent understandings of Jewish law.

Gavriel Lakser argues that the first two chapter of Genesis give us different insights into the character of God. The first chapter shows us a transcendent and omnipotent God, while the second shows us a God much more imminent and concerned for the lives of the creation. These two aspects are complimentary and mutually deepens our understanding of the human-God relationship.

David Fried argues that the question of Moses seeing the face of God reveals the tragic choice Moses made in choosing between his own spirituality and that of his people.

Ezra Sivan probes the Sabbath and the Torah's call to love God.

Aton Holzer offers a novel re-reading of the Seder, arguing that it reflects and recreates four types of liberty that can be found in the Exodus narrative, as well as a fifth form of freedom.

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.

The poetry of the Mishkan: Abe Mezrich mines Parshat Terumah for its poetic potential.

Jerome Marcus on the Akeidah: It's not about ethics vs. divine command, but about Hashem versus Elokim!

Alex Ozar offers an in-depth reading of Eglah Arufah against the backdrop of current events.

Why did the women bring musical instruments out of Egypt? In her first Lehrhaus article, musicologist Rebecca Cypess draws a fascinating historical analogy between biblical and African-American slavery to shed light on the Exodus in Jewish tradition.