Passover
He is still full of hope, and so—in replying to those who would misunderstand me and my method of reading the Bible—am I.
It’s not that they were exceptionally sophisticated or tolerant, as one popular recent article would have it—it’s that they lived surrounded by people who raised pigs.
The conventional assignment of the family birthright to the firstborn comes under criticism in all of the family stories in Genesis; in Exodus, the issue becomes even more complicated.
It’s hard to extract universal philosophical or political lessons from a set of books that is so resolutely particular.
Is there a difference between pestilence and plague?
There’s a great deal more at stake in Exodus than getting the slaves out of Egypt. What might it be?
Embracing the connection between two stories of emancipation.
Showing the Israelite God’s masterful transvaluation of the Egyptian pantheon.
The existence of Jews is a reminder that freedom is possible only with responsibility.
In a remote East African hospital, this seder night was different from all others.
“Even as the ancient Hebrew people answered the call of freedom, we too must heed its voice.”
Not packaged, not square, not oven-baked: that’s what it wasn’t. But what it was and where the name for it comes from is still something of a mystery.
Freedom to enter into the covenant.
A few months ago, I was approached with a request to become involved in a then-secret mission: to examine one of the very few high-medieval Haggadahs still in private hands.