Bible
Mikeitz: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Pharaoh's heart is pounding—not the last time this will happen to a biblical king. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:10:23Vayeishev: Pharoah’s Court
Wednesday, December 5, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Was it "courtiers" who had the dreams that Joseph interprets in prison—or eunuchs? (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:24
The Sigd Festival Comes Home to JerusalemWednesday, December 5, 2012 by Shai Afsai | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
On the Sigd, Ethiopian Jews would walk to a mountaintop and pray to return to Jerusalem. Now they are in Jerusalem, and the Sigd is a national holiday in Israel.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Did Jacob have one camp, two camps, or three? In a chapter about camps, it would seem to matter. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:23
Inheriting AbrahamTuesday, November 27, 2012 by Jon D. Levenson | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
On August 28, Jon D. Levenson, the Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard University, spoke with the current class of Tikvah fellows about his latest book, the first volume in the Library of Jewish Ideas: Inheriting Abraham. Here, an edited transcript of the event.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
This week, Reuben brings home some mandrakes—but what happens to them then? (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:42Toldot: Scenes from a Marriage
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
This week, Isaac prays "on behalf of" his wife—but that's not what the Hebrew really means. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:10:45Hayei Sarah: She’s My Wife and My Sister!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
The "mother of Israel in danger" stories—and the strange resonance of one of them in this week's episode. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:02
Did Red Bull Stratos Break a Halakhic Barrier?Friday, November 2, 2012 by Shlomo M. Brody | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Not long ago, much of the world watched as Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner jumped to earth in a record-setting free fall that broke the sound barrier.
A Jewish View of HurricanesThursday, November 1, 2012 by Moshe Sokolow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
With school closed, transportation suspended, and the local park off limits, I cast about for something other than “work” to fill the day. My thoughts turned to the weather, and I asked myself whether Judaism has anything instructive to say about hurricanes.
Editors' Picks
David's Tomb , Bible History Daily. Archeologists have long dismissed Raymond Weill's century-old hypothesis that tunnels in the City of David were the necropolis of the ancient kings. But could Weill have been right?
There Must Be an Angel Gil Student, Torah Musings. While angels often appear in Biblical narratives, medieval Jewish commentators could not agree about what they are—and what their nature means for the afterlife.
How Democratic was the Jewish Demos? Jonathan Sacks, Jewish Chronicle. Is the Hebrew Bible an attempt on the part of humans to govern themselves? Or is it the story of a people who saw themselves under the sovereignty of God?
Cut-Flower Ethics and Jewish Culture David Wolpe, Weekly Standard. Amos Oz might imagine there is a large coterie of “atheists of the book,” waiting to be swept up in the vast sea of Jewish literature. But is this actually the case?
Hear, O Israel? Michael L. Satlow, Then and Now. There is no evidence of public Torah readings until the first century B.C.E. So, how much did the Jews of antiquity know about the Bible?
Fearing the Flood Avi Steinberg, New Yorker. Underneath all of the scientific predictions and vast technological apparatus monitoring Hurricane Sandy lay an ancient biblical fear—of the Deluge.
Worlds in Collision Steven Shapin, London Review of Books. When Immanuel Velikovsky sought to explain biblical events in terms of astronomy, he ended up in a violent collision with the scientific establishment.
Punishment without Crime Gil Student, Torah Musings. If God prophesies to Abraham that his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign land, why does He ultimately punish the Egyptians?
Angels in the Architecture Elin Schoen Brockman, Tablet. Rabbis have tried to enforce the biblical prohibition on graven images. But, as a new exhibit at the Israel Museum shows, that hasn’t kept Jewish artists from being fascinated by angels.
To Each His Abraham Peter Monaghan, Chronicle of Higher Education. In Inheriting Abraham, Bible scholar Jon D. Levenson shows that while Jews, Christians, and Muslims all consider themselves the patriarch's children, they aren't talking about the same Abraham.