Tanakh

In a chapter adapted from his new book, Be, Become, Bless: Jewish Spirituality between East and West, Yaakov Nagen suggests based on the Zohar that the world endures when we see Godliness in another person's face.

Did Rabbeinu Bahya mention a lightning rod centuries before it was discovered? Yaakov Taubes takes us on a journey through science, magic, and religion to help explain this medieval commentator’s cryptic comment about the Tower of Babel.

Ezra Sivan reexamines the relationship between Rachel and Leah.

Benjamin Barer traces the word Hevel through Jewish texts, showing how the use of the same word can teach us both about the wisdom of Kohelet we read this past Shabbat and the character of Hevel who we will read about in this week's Parashah.

Isaac occupies the middle position among the three Patriarchs. Gavriel Lakser offers a novel reading of his character that portrays Isaac as a uniquely relatable figure for our times.

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.

Michah Gottlieb reflects on the recent discussion on biblical scholarship and its implications for Orthodox Jews, in light of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch's writings. 

Mitchell First reviews Yehuda Landy's Purim and the Persian Empire.

Ezra Zuckerman Sivan examines the significance of the six barleys that Boaz gives Ruth in light of the story of Rachel, Leah, and the duda'im.

What was the covenant of peace God gave Pinchas? R. Shlomo Zuckier puts the pieces together to find out