Jewish Texts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A close read of four biblical verses offers a powerful insight into one of the most challenging questions religion has to answer.

The heroine of the Purim story is portrayed in contradictory ways in the biblical book that bears her name.

The real message of the story we read on Yom Kippur isn't about the power of repentance, but about taking responsibility for others.

Approaching this enigmatic work as a statement of philosophy -- rather than an account of one man's search -- has confounded commentators across the centuries.