Tanakh

Zohar Atkins presents a new poem on the Akeidah.

Jerome Marcus on the Akeidah: It's not about ethics vs. divine command, but about Hashem versus Elokim!

AJ Berkovitz explores the "life" of Jewish books, from authors to owners to outside the margins.

Drawing upon the teachings of the Piaseczner Rebbe, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, and others, Yiscah Smith proposes a model for reimagining contemporary Jewish leadership on both the communal and personal levels.

David Schwartz explores thematic similarities between the Hanukkah miracle and Pharaoh’s dreams.

Ezra Zuckerman Sivan explains the connection between Shabbat and the Tabernacle.

Tzvi Sinensky responds to Herzl Hefter's Akeida essay.

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.

Ayelet Wenger weaves together the personal, historical and exegetical in advance of reading Sefer Shemot.

The biblical figure of Esther is often interpreted by traditional and modern commentators as a heroine of active leadership. Naama Sadan offers a novel perspective, according to which Esther confronts national crisis in female-coded ways, triumphing and saving her people through internally-focused activism.