A Purim Teaching for our Time: Malbim’s Proto-Feminist Commentary on Esther
Purim - Armed with feminist and political theory, Don Seeman probes the depths of Malbim's Esther commentary.
Leviticus, Leonard Cohen, and the Paradox of Rest
Sarah Rindner asks what the Book of Leviticus, Leonard Cohen and the Liberty Bell all have in common.
When God Appeases Man: Yom Kippur in a Time of Exile
Yom Kippur marks the end of an 11 week period when thematic haftarot about the destruction of the Temple, consolation following its loss, and repentance replace haftarot connected to the weekly Torah reading. What can this grouping teach us about the nature of forgiveness and reconciliation? Hannah Abrams explains.
Lot’s Wife Was Never Salt (And Why That Highlights the Greatness of Abraham)
Mark Glass explores the implications of a little-known interpretation in which Lot's wife never turned to salt.
Aspects of My Father’s Philosophy of Jewish History
This essay by Aaron Zeitlin—originally published in Yiddish in 1967 and translated here into English by Daniel Kraft—explores Aaron’s father Hillel Zeitlin’s approach to anti-semitism by way of the Book of Jonah.
The King’s Great Cover-Up and Great Confession
Ezra Sivan explores the idea of confession, through the eyes of King David
Reeding Between the Lines: Parallels Across the Yam Suf and Baby Moshe Narratives
Ben Greenfield examines the curious parallels between the stories of Moshe in the ark and the splitting of the sea.
Dancing with the Text: The Rabbinic Use of Midrashic Allegory
Malka Simkovich explores how Chazal approached our sacred texts in their midrashic allegories and how this issue continues to effect our approach to the torah today.
A New Coffee-Table Humash is a Gateway to Academic Biblical Scholarship
As we begin to read Sefer Shemot, Yosef Lindell explores Koren Publishers' new series, The Tanakh of the Land of Israel, the first volume to use Rabbi Sacks’ Humash translation.
Frum and Free? Passover and Jewish Views on Liberty
Aton Holzer offers a novel re-reading of the Seder, arguing that it reflects and recreates four types of liberty that can be found in the Exodus narrative, as well as a fifth form of freedom.