Tanakh

Shimon Lerner uncovers a surprising but profound message that goes to the very heart of the Purim story.

Zvi Grumet reviews Aaron Koller’s new book on the Akedah and evaluates his surprisingly novel approach to this formative biblical story.

Susan Jablow on reading Tanakh through the eyes of a ba'alat teshuva

Bezalel Naor explains what is philosophical about the erstwhile halakhic observances of the Shavuot holiday.

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

With only two verses about him in the Book of Judges, not much is known about Tola ben Puah. Ami Hordes takes clues from his story's text and context to paint a fuller picture of who the judge was and why he was important.

Shlomo Zuckier asks what we can learn from Shaul's mistakes in this week's Haftara.

Ezra Sivan probes the Sabbath and the Torah's call to love God.

Yakov Nagen examines the opening chapters of Genesis to explore what God wanted from people for matan Torah.

Laurance Wieder's After Adam was named the Book of the Year in 2019 by First Thing's John Wilson, but has been largely overlooked in the Jewish community. The Jewish Review of Book's Michal Leibowitz seeks to remedy this in her review of Wieder's lyrical retelling of the Bible.