Peshat and Beyond: How the Hasidic Masters Read the Torah

Batya Hefter uses the case of Isaac to illuminate how hasidic masters read the Bible.

Shadal: Translated, Elucidated, and Uncensored at Last

Martin Lockshin reviews Daniel A. Klein’s translation of Samuel David Luzzatto’s commentary on the Book of Vayikra, the latest volume in Klein’s project to translate all of Shadal’s insightful and ever-interesting Torah commentary.

The Four R’s: An Orthodox Educational Framework for Engaging with Biblical Criticism

Thanks in part to several new publications, portions of the Orthodox world have been engaging with modern biblical scholarship in a more significant way than ever before. Gil Perl provides a four-step framework for how Jewish days schools might profitably teach many aspects of biblical criticism that do not conflict with our mesorah.

Azariah de Rossi’s Fascination with the Septuagint

What inspired Azariah de Rossi to take a work that cut against the grain of rabbinic views of the Septuagint and make it accessible to his Hebrew-reading fellow Jews?

The Voice and the Sword: A Meta-Narrative in Rashi

Dan Jutan locates a fascinating meta-narrative within Rashi's commentary.

Dancing with the Text: The Rabbinic Use of Midrashic Allegory

Malka Simkovich explores how Chazal approached our sacred texts in their midrashic allegories and how this issue continues to effect our approach to the torah today.

The Tension that is Tanakh

Yaakov Beasley looks at Hayyim Angel's scholarship and evaluates it as an exemplar of Modern Orthodox Bible study.

The “Judeo-Christian” Tradition at Yeshiva

Yisroel Ben-Porat offers historical, hashkafic, and personal reflections on what’s often called the “Judeo-Christian” tradition and whether a Torah u-Madda outlook can embrace the study of Christianity.

Four Reasons to Leverage Pop Culture in the Judaic Studies Classroom 

Can we learn Torah from Star Wars, superheroes, or the hit Netflix show ‘The Crown’? Olivia Friedman, a teacher at Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago, says yes, arguing that bringing pop culture into the Judaic studies classroom in a meaningful way not only makes learning more fun, but models the type of integration that Modern Orthodoxy stands for.

Must Creativity and Rigor be Either/Or?

In his review of Michael Hattin’s commentaries on the books of Joshua and Judges, Francis Nataf explores how greater collaboration between creative Tanakh teachers could help reduce the number of overly speculative readings.