Moses
Some Reform rabbis have taken to justifying intermarriage by invoking an utterly fanciful biblical prototype; they couldn’t have picked a more damaging or counterproductive religious strategy.
In preparation for the exodus from Egypt, an apparent non-sequitur in this week’s Torah portion points to a crucial shift in the Israelite leadership:. . .
The Torah is silent on the details of Moses’ forty-year year sojourn in Midian, suggesting a period of ascetic retreat that God forces him. . .
By portraying Moses as a unique, inimitable leader, the Bible shifts the emphasis away from the man to the message he communicates—the Law, and God. . .
Miriam’s slander of Moses, and the severity of her punishment for it, suggest that even divine authority can be undermined by cynicism.
To suggest that some verses in the Torah were not written by Moses, as does the medieval commentator Abraham ibn Ezra, is not in and of itself heretical.
“A great melancholy emerges from Joshua’s life story, a sadness that stays with him to the end of his days. Is it because his life. . .
Beyond the distinctive insights offered by each respondent, the overall result is fascinating, not least because the four responses wind up unintentionally but profoundly disagreeing with one another.
From the Patriarchs and the Family to Sinai and the Nation. A video conversation with Leon R. Kass.