Tanakh

Yehuda Goldberg explains how the Bible's depictions of the Tower of Babel and of Jerusalem teaches us about the risk and potential of cities.

A poem on parshat Korach by Zohar Atkins

Amitai Bin-Nun provides a fresh and intriguing perspective on the story of the Golden Calf by reading it in light of the Talmudic passage in Menahot detailing an encounter between Moses and R. Akiba on Mt. Sinai where God is tying crowns to the letters of the Torah scroll.

Ben Greenfield God isn’t angry with Sarah, when she laughs at the idea of birthing a child in her old age (Gen. 18:12-15). God is...

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.

In advance of Shavuot, Stuart Halpern reviews Reading Ruth, a succinct but poignant new literary commentary on the Book of Ruth, by Leon Kass and his granddaughter Hannah Mandelbaum.

Erica Brown considers the little-discussed prohibition on planting during the Nine Days and what it teaches about the nature of mourning and joy.

Tzvi Sinensky argues compellingly for a new way to understand the relationship between Shir HaShirim and Pesach in times of quarantine.

David Curwin explores the evidence that Jacob may have made a fatal mistake in not conquering Canaan upon returning.

Steven Weiner writes on the significance of tears on Tishah Be-Av and how they relate to the thanks of birkat ha-mazon.