Shemot

Ranana Dine compares Christian and Jewish views on the value of having a beautiful Temple.

Yisroel Benporat juxtaposes the Akeidah with the Splitting of the Sea as similar tests of faith.

Zach Truboff draws on personal experience in considering the place of Yizkor on Yom Tov.

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

Ned Krasnopolsky explores the roles of meaning and obedience in matan Torah.

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

Whose idea was Sinai? A midrash contends that Sinai was first conceived by Jethro. Ezra Zuckerman Sivan supports this Midrash from the Torah's text, and explains why Jethro was the appropriate vehicle for providing the rationale of Sinai.

Leah Sarna argues that this is the Passover to tell the stories of enslaved Jewish women: of the victims of October 7, who were and likely still are subjected to sexual violence, and of the heroic women in the era of the Exodus, who fought to ensure the perpetuation of the Jewish people.

Yosef Lindell explores the true nature of the Aseret ha-Dibrot.

Was the teiva an attempt to save Moshe's life? David Fried challenges our assumptions about the purpose of the wicker basket in the river.