Tanakh

What was on Nehama Leibowitz's bookshelf? Her authoritative biographer tells all, just in time for Nehama's 20th Yahrtzeit.

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

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.

Beth Kissileff on the book of Jonah and its relevance on Sukkot.

Miriam Gedwiser explains how the Rabbis of the Talmud put the law of yefat to'ar in conversation with the David narrative, and what this teaches us about how we should approach passages of this nature.

William Gewirtz explores the value of cantillation.

Beth Kissileff explains how Moses' complaint about not being the Israelite's nursemaid shows how he is unfit for leadership.

Leah Sarna argues that this is the Passover to tell the stories of enslaved Jewish women: of the victims of October 7, who were and likely still are subjected to sexual violence, and of the heroic women in the era of the Exodus, who fought to ensure the perpetuation of the Jewish people.

In Part II of his series on trop, William Gewirtz explains the principle of recursion and how it helps us interpret texts.

Abraham’s participation in the war of the four kings against the five fits uncomfortably in the broader narrative of his life. Rabbi Mark Glass argues that this Abrahamic episode articulates a core Torah perspective on military might.