Ketuvim

Tzvi Sinensky suggests that the Megillah itself confronts the question of Purim's legitimacy.

Tzvi Sinensky contends that the rabbinic and feminist readings of Vashti are not diametrically opposed.

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?

Lawrence Kaplan responds to AJ Berkovitz’s article on the many conflicting interpretations of a passage in Midrash Tehillim, highlighting two different approaches advanced by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

Psalm 121, recited fervently in online prayer spaces and from the Senate floor alike since March, is subject to a seemingly mind-boggling array of interpretations. Michael Weiner blazes a path through the interpretive chaos.

Zvi Grumet suggests that when read in sequence, the kinot of R. Elazar Ha-Kalir—often seen as the ones most difficult to understand—offer a powerful theological narrative from despair to hope.

Natan Oliff explores the evolving role of truth throughout Tanakh and later Jewish history.

Purim - Armed with feminist and political theory, Don Seeman probes the depths of Malbim's Esther commentary.

Ezra Zuckerman Sivan examines how the yibbum triangle of Ruth, Tamar, and Lot's daughters teaches us how to rebuild our lives in a time of upheaval.

Malka Simkovich hunts for Jewish texts in some unlikely places.