Humash

There’s a miniature kaf at the beginning of the parashah. As Gabriel Slamovits explains, what the diminished letter says about how Abraham mourned for Sarah fits well with a prominent teaching of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, zt”l.

The father heard the voice of God, Elli Fischer explains, but the son ends up with the blade on his neck.

In this thought-provoking piece, Aharon Frazer traces the approach to power and privilege in the Torah from Genesis through Deuteronomy, and offers a framework for the ethical use of power in our own times.

Jon Kelsen uncovers a deeper rabbinic meaning to the blood needed to "passover" the Israelites.

Malka Simkovich hunts for Jewish texts in some unlikely places.

Sarah Golubtchik suggests that the numerous parallels between the puzzling episode of Yehuda and Tamar and the story of Yaakov, Rivkah, and the Berakhot are the key to unlocking this mysterious episode.

Eliyahu Freedman compares hospital chaplains to the Kohanim.

In his letter to the editor, Gershon Klapper draws upon three medieval sources that undermine Ben Greenfield's recent reading of the Zohar on the three attributes of the Avot.

Infertility figures as a tragic theme not only on Rosh Hashanah but also in biblical narrative and modern life. This morning, Yael Leibowitz writes lyrically on The Birthplace of Infertility.

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