Torah

Parashat Shemot: Learning God

The divine cannot be reduced to scientific explanation or empirical inquiry. God exists beyond the categories through which human beings normally understand reality.

The encounter at the burning bush lays the bedrock of monotheism. Illustrative.
 The numerical rise of the Israelites aroused fear in Pharaoh. Illustrative.

Parashat Shemot: The continuity of the world

A Medical Milestone and a Shared Vision

Beyond the Headlines: A medical milestone, a shared vision - opinion

Torah scroll 521

Jacob’s warning: Enthusiasm without restraint threatens a nation - opinion


'Disasters of Biblical Proportions': From ancient Exodus to lessons in fear and faith - review

The book Disasters of Biblical Proportions: The Ten Plagues Then, Now, and at the End of the World provides a history of the interpretations of each of the 10 plagues in the Book of Exodus.

‘The seventh Plague of Egypt,’  hail and fire, by John Martin, 1823.

Your Investments: Greatest danger to Israel's moral mission is prosperity without discipline

It’s important to teach your children the importance of saving. I think that teens should have a bank account. They can learn how compound interest works.

Child with Israel flag 370

Parashat Vayechi: Change begins with you

Anyone who truly wants change must begin with himself – to be better, more generous, more understanding, and more open to differing views.

Jacob crossed his hands when blessing Ephraim and Manasseh

Parashat Vayechi: King David's lesson in leadership

King David’s final words are not a farewell. They are a summons. A summons to responsibility, to faith and to moral resolve.

A mosaic of King David (illustartive)

Pottery fragments found near Ararat renew debate over site of Noah’s Ark

Professor Faruk Kaya said the dating of the ceramics found broadly aligns with traditional estimates for the era associated with Noah.

What the GPR scans revealed about the Ararat 'Noah's Ark' formation.

Between ultra-Orthodox draft and Knesset coalition, Israel's democracy is too complicated - opinion

The composition of our fragile coalition in the Knesset, mirrored in the cabinet, makes governing our already volatile population factions extremely difficult.

Protests against haredi draft begins in Jerusalem, October 30, 2025.

When brothers reunite: Ezekiel’s prophecy and Israel’s deepest divide

A biblical vision of unity shows why Israel’s deepest fractures are also its greatest tests.

Iraqi Jews pray at the tomb of Ezekiel in Al-Kifl in southeastern Iraq on the Euphrates River, between Najaf and Al Hillah, in 1932.

Vayigash after October 7: Tears, envy, and consolation pedagogy - opinion

What Joseph teaches Israeli society today

 Rembrandt - Joseph Accused by Potiphar's Wife

Parashat Vayigash: A shoulder of tears

 Though the formal verse of 'Shema, Israel' would only be inscribed later in Torah, Jacob sensed its truth centuries earlier.

Joseph meeting his father, Jacob, in the desert, at the frontier of Egypt. Painting by Jean-Antoine Julien de Parme (1736 - 1799).

Parashat Vayigash: Sharp emotional transitions

The Torah describes the emotional upheaval, the sharp transition from deep sorrow to astonishment and joy, when Jacob discovers that Joseph is alive and even holds a senior position in Egypt.

'The Recognition of Joseph by his Brothers,’ by Peter von Cornelius, 1817.

Hatred of Jews so often fixates on the Land of Israel - opinion

Hatred of Jews has taken many forms, but it has always returned to one target: the Jewish people’s bond to the Land of Israel.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators carry a banner during a protest against the arrival of an Israeli cruise ship in the port of Piraeus near Athens, Greece, June 12, 2025.