Genesis
A Voice Saying Something RightTuesday, January 29, 2013 by David Curzon | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Poet Harvey Shapiro, who passed away this month at age 88, captured in plain words the mystery of everyday life, the trauma of war, and the grandeur of Jewish tradition.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Two allusions to the story of Abraham make one thing clear: Joseph's getting thrown off the bus. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:10:18Mikeitz: 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
Lincoln’s “Limp”Friday, November 30, 2012 by Judy Sokolow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Abraham Lincoln was a transcendently great American president. Yet Steven Spielberg’s recently released film Lincoln depicts him as a practitioner of political chicanery and manipulation. Must an individual be calculating and deceitful in order to be a great leader?
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
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
Genesis' Afterlife Ronald Hendel, Jon Levenson, Moment. Are modern Bible commentaries more reliable than traditional interpretations—or simply founded on different methodological premises?
Rationalizing the Commandments Lawrence H. Schiffman, LawrenceSchiffman.com. The Pseudepigraphal Book of Jubilees, a retelling of Genesis, explains the Torah's commandments in terms of God's covenant with the Patriarchs.
The Genesis of Genesis Jon D. Levenson, Moment. A new book explains Genesis by isolating it from the rest of the Bible and later religious contexts. But the fact that it can be read in isolation is no argument that it ought to be.
Searching for Sodom , Bible History Daily. Using biblical clues to search for ancient Sodom, archeologists excavated Tall el-Hammam in Jordan—and found evidence of a sudden and extreme conflagration over 3,000 years ago.
Returning to Eden Brennan Breed, Marginalia. Biblical critics have long insisted that we view the Bible only in its original, "authentic" context. But there was never a single original context, as the critical approach to Genesis itself testifies.
Original Dialectic Alan Brill, Kavvanah. Unlike most Jewish thinkers, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik acknowledged the doctrine of Original Sin—but argued that it did not corrupt man, but split him in two.
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?
Darkness on the Deep Philologos, Forward. “Is Genesis’s description of the universe at its inception, before the creation of light, a radically reimagined, reworked and de-mythologized rendering of the Babylonian legend?”