The Cecil B. DeMille version of the revelation at Sinai, in which Moses ascends the mountain on his own and returns bearing tablets, misses key aspects of the Israelites’ experience.

What does it mean to be God’s chosen people? As Moses counsels the Israelites before he dies, their failure will have consequences—and failure is unavoidable.

The brave attempt at monotheism was bound to go wrong sometimes, and when it did, the Israelites would need help putting the pieces back together again.

Deuteronomy erases the separation between leader and led; for better or for worse, they’re yoked together.

Koraḥ’s failed rebellion against the leadership of Moses shows that a culture based on grievance cannot last.

In the Jewish tradition, the summit of religious awareness is to know that God is ultimately unknowable.