Leadership Through Retreat: A New Perspective on the Book of Esther

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.

The Prophets Did Not Take Political Stands, and You Should Too

Alex Ozar comments on preaching politics from the pulpit.

Covenant in Retrospect: Rereading the Brit Bein Ha-Betarim (Gen. 15)

Joel Wolowelsky & Avner Taler explore the Brit Bein Ha-Betarim through a lens of chronology and spiritual renewal.

Revelation Deferred but not Denied: the Golden Calf as a Rabbinic Origin Story

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.

Surrender or Struggle? The Akeidah Reconsidered

Herzl Hefter provides critical perspective on a stream of Akeidah interpretation from Kierkegaard to the Rav

Capra Dei, or Had Gadya: Isaiah 53 and Jewish Redemption

Aton Holzer offers a novel interpretation of Isaiah 53 based on current events in Israel.

Tanakh, Chapter by Chapter

Susan Jablow on reading Tanakh through the eyes of a ba'alat teshuva

Korach

A poem on parshat Korach by Zohar Atkins

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.

The Gift of Shabbat as the Trace of God’s Caring Hand on our Faces

Ezra Zuckerman Sivan explains how an enigmatic passage in Masekhet Shabbat teaches us how we can use Shabbat to connect to an oft-hidden God.