Category: Torah

Between the Cry of Pilegesh BeGivah and the Whispers of Ruth in the Field (Hebrew)

by Dr. Orit Avnery Posted on April 17, 2019

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Shomrim in Everyday Life: Reading Law Through Narrative

by Dr. Yael Landman Wermuth Posted on April 17, 2019

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Lo Tvasheil Gdi – Three Times

by Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom Posted on April 17, 2019

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A Brief History of Tanach Study: Tanakh in the Traditional Torah Curriculum Over the Centuries

by Dovi Nadel Posted on April 17, 2019

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Tehillim Chapters 9-10: Acrostics and Our Relationship with God

by Rabbi Hayyim Angel Posted on April 3, 2019

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Who Wrote Sefer Shmuel?

by Rabbi Aviad Bodner Posted on April 3, 2019

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Two Mothers, Two Dynasties, and One Nation: Leah and Rahel (Hebrew)

by Dr. Orit Avnery Posted on April 3, 2019

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Why Are We Doing This and Why Does it Matter?

by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on January 31, 2019

The enterprise of ta’amei ha’mitzvot, trying to identify the values that underlie the mitzvot, is an important although potentially dangerous one.  The importance lies in the fact that it helps us actualize those values both in the performance of the mitzvot and in other areas of our lives. …

Partnering With God

by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on January 24, 2019

How many commandments were given at Mt. Sinai?  The answer, surprisingly, is not 10.  The Torah speaks of the aseret ha’devarim, the Ten Utterances, not the Ten Commandments.  When one gets down to counting the commandments, she finds that the first of the utterances, “I am the Lord your God,” is not exactly a commandment, and that some, like “You shall have no other gods before me; you shall not bow down to them nor shall you worship them,” actually contain 3 commandments, if not more.…

A Sojourner or a Resident?

by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on November 1, 2018

Ger vi’toshav anokhi imakhem, “A sojourner and a resident am I in your midst” (Gen. 23:4).  Avraham’s description of his status in the land of Canaan – as both someone living among the inhabitants of the land, and yet not fully one of them – powerfully captures the experience of immigrants in general, and that of Jews in America starting from the first wave of major immigration in 19th century, in particular. …

Should a Father Personally Circumcise His Son? – The Mitzvot of Bris and Milah

by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on October 17, 2018

QUESTION: I am the father of a newborn beautiful baby boy.  The bris is coming up in a few days.  Since I have a mitzvah to give my son a bris, and the mohel is just an agent, is it better that I do the bris myself (after the mohel sets everything up, of course)?…

Birkat HaMazon and the Oral Torah

by Rabbi Dov Linzer Posted on August 2, 2018

Sefat Emet teaches that those who were to enter the Land of Israel would be the beginning of the Oral Torah – the taking of the Divine word and interpreting it and applying it to the lived reality of their lives. …