Tanakh

Why do biblical and rabbinic texts preserve so many names, places, and seemingly unnecessary details? Chaim Trachtman argues that these textual additions are more than literary embellishments: they strengthen communal memory, reinforce covenantal identity, and help transform religious tradition into lived history.

Ari Lamm on The Boss and The Bible

Sam Glauber examines Abraham's place in his society.

In this winning essay of the Ateret Zvi Prize, Dr. Ethan Schwartz analyzes the Yamim Nora'im experience and interpretations of what happened to Korah's children.

Following the World Zionist Congress, Gabriel Slamovits reflects on the significance of the event and how the journey of Avraham and Sarah in Parshat Lech Lecha informs the future.

The biblical account of the holiday we refer to as Shavuot bears no relationship at all to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The emergence of the association between this harvest festival and the Sinai covenant has therefore occupied both traditional and academic thinkers for centuries. Tzvika Aviv argues for a previously unexplored approach to the question, one which bridges the mystical insights of the Zohar with current scientific knowledge regarding wheat genetics.

Shlomo Zuckier seeks and uncovers rabbinic-Biblical intertextuality.

I. Introduction: The Puzzle of Vayikra 17 The mitzvah of kisuy ha-dam, the commandment to cover the blood of a slaughtered bird or wild animal,...

Ori Bach analyzes differing interpretations of Yiftach's vow, and its outcome, in the book of Shoftim.

In this essay, William Goloboy elucidates Psalm 132 and the Divine choice to prohibit King David from building the First Temple.