Torah Commentaries

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Parashat Shemot: The Essential Name of God

Moses’ inquiry about God’s name reveals the essential quality of how God manifests in the world.

Parashat Vayechi: The Legend of You and Me

Jacob’s blessing to his son Joseph offers a potent metaphor about maintaining steadfastness in a world defined by rapid change.

Parshat Vayigash: A Tale of Two Brothers

This Torah portion opens with a passionate exchange between Joseph and Judah, two brothers with distinct personalities.

Parashat Miketz: Coercion vs. Love

This Torah portion begs the question of whether it’s acceptable to use coercive power to have people to do something that’s good for them.

Parashat Vayishlach: Honoring the Best of Jacob

This Torah portion interperses multiple momentous encounters with the divine realm with a series of fraught incidents between humans.

Parashat Vayetzei: Leah’s Hidden Blessing

Why does the Torah specifically mention the "weak eyes" of the matriarch Leah?

Parashat Toldot: Opening the Conversation

This portion records the first instance in the Torah of someone initiating a dialogue with God.

Chayei Sarah: The Reverberations of Familial Violence

The lingering trauma of Isaac’s near-sacrifice is felt in his relationship with his wife Rebecca and in the generations that follow.

Parashat Vayera: The Uniqueness of the Binding of Isaac

Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son should be seen as a unique situation never to be repeated.

Lech-Lecha: In Praise of Holy Discomfort

A lesson in the role of discomfort in fomenting social change.

Parashat Noach: How Societies Collapse

The story of the flood is an object lesson in the kinds of crimes that pose existential social threats.

Parashat Bereshit: Being Like God

The banishing of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden marks the beginning of humanity’s path to fulfilling its destiny.

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