Tanakh

  Hershey H. Friedman & Linda Weiser Friedman Some scholars, such as Alfred North Whitehead, have argued that the Hebrew Bible lacks humor. However, a counter-argument...

Following the World Zionist Congress, Gabriel Slamovits reflects on the significance of the event and how the journey of Avraham and Sarah in Parshat Lech Lecha informs the future.

Yoni Nouriel examines an episode in the Talmud where Shimon Ha-Tzadik describes his encounter with an impure Nazir.

Yaakov Jaffe traces the origins and evolution of the custom to shake the lulav in different directions.

Chaim Trachtman sees the Akeida as addressing the threat to human life, especially that of children, which is always inherent in the religious experience.

The dynamic conversation continues with three letters to the editor widening our perspective on Torah u-Madda. Steve Gotlib grapples with the challenges of living Torah u-Madda in the real world; Ezequiel Antebi Sacca adds a Sephardic view from Argentina; and Eugene Korn adds insight to the Jewish view on Christianity.

A call for a new Modern Orthodox Humash, and a history of the current ones, by Yosef Lindell.

Ezra Sivan compares biblical covenants, the all-important circumcision of Abraham and Shabbat

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.

This year, instead of thinking about the reasons for Jonah’s flight from Nineveh in particular, we can gain a new appreciation for his need to break free altogether. Ahead of Yom Kippur, Erica Brown considers the unique resonance of the book of Jonah in an era marked by isolation and quarantine.