Torah
It isn’t Moses, despite the four books devoted to his adventures—it’s Abraham. Why?
Rosh Hashanah as described in the Torah looks very different from the Rosh Hashanah we know today. What happened, and what exactly are we celebrating?
The Torah tells us to love the stranger, but—contrary to what some activists claim—Jewish law and values do not mandate unrestricted immigration.
Deuteronomy warns that material wellbeing can lead to self-satisfaction and moral complacency. The antidote? Gratitude and generosity.
There is, and one strain of it needs to be reclaimed—especially in the aftermath of Gaza.
“The thing that does matter is that the Torah came from God. This is absolutely essential. At the same time, this is a claim not. . .
Adorning the Ark of the Covenant described in this week’s Torah portion were two golden “cherubs” (kruvim). What did they symbolize?
The biblical account of King David must be accurate, wrote the British diplomat Duff Cooper, because no people would invent a national hero so deeply flawed.
Six varieties of fruit served not merely as food for the ancient Israelites but as symbols that feature prominently in biblical names, laws, proverbs, and traditions.
A literary and political masterpiece, the book of Deuteronomy deserves to be appreciated both for its final theological teaching and in light of the transformative. . .
Some biblical scholars interpret the story of Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38) as a case of sacred prostitution. Their reading is supported neither by textual. . .
The admonition against oppressing the stranger, which opens this week’s Torah portion, is a far from obvious response to the Israelites’ experience of enslavement in Egypt.
Featured in this week’s Torah portion is the Bible’s most famous teaching, which is less a founding legal code than an ethical paradigm for every. . .
The 19th-century commentator known as the Malbim provides a template for how traditional biblical interpretation can adapt to scientific discovery.