Torah
It sees rituals as more than symbolic.
A participatory theory of revelation.
For this 14th-century rabbi, the Torah’s laws were only quasi-divine.
Some think the Devil can be found in the Hebrew Bible. Are they right?
Vayakhel records in painstaking detail the making of the tabernacle. It also makes clear one crucial truth: the central task of Jewish leadership is not atonement but teaching.
It takes hard work to get to the divine.
During two exoduses, defiance proved better than comfort.
For 40 years, Moses held tight to the Jews lest they relapse into idol worship. As his time drew to an end, he forced himself to loosen the reins.
Isn’t such behavior self-evidently wrong? And why the deaf in particular?
And why this week’s Torah portion fits into the spirit of both days.
You can hear the man’s voice as he keeps changing his mind. What’s the point of such a Shakespearean portrayal?
Many are sure that one of Judaism’s central events never happened. Evidence, some published here for the first time, suggests otherwise.
God wanted all of Amalek dead. Saul thought he knew better. What happened next?
The Torah repeatedly mandates care for orphans (along with widows and the poor), most notably by creating a special tithe to be given them and. . .