Humash

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.

In this second-place prize-winning essay for Hadar’s annual Ateret Zvi contest, Nehemia Polen approaches a vexing episode in the Torah through new lens: what if Moses and Aaron were denied entry to the Land of Israel not because of what they did when obtaining water from the rock but because of where they escaped to right before?

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

Daniel Lifshitz explains the connection between Abraham, Gideon, and David through the lens of this week's Parshah and Haftarah.

Miriam Gedwiser explains how the Rabbis of the Talmud put the law of yefat to'ar in conversation with the David narrative, and what this teaches us about how we should approach passages of this nature.

Sholom Eisenstat presents a passage of the Zohar about the inverted nuns in Parashat Beha'alotekha to explore the interplay between design and interpretation of the Torah.

Ezra Sivan asks what light the narratives of Shabbat and the scouts shed on some critical social questions.

Eliyahu Freedman compares hospital chaplains to the Kohanim.

Ben Greenfield calls attention to a crucial, but unnoticed feature of the early narratives in Exodus.

The significant linkages between the Garden of Eden narrative and the commandment concerning cutting down trees in time of war suggest a profound message about how we should live in an imperfect world.