Rabbi Steven Bob is Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Etz Chaim in Lombard, IL. He serves Guest Faculty at Wheaton College and as an Instructor at the Hebrew Seminary for the Deaf and the Hearing. He is the author of: When Judaism Began; Exploring the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah ( Wipf & Stock 2026), Jonah and the Meaning of Our Lives: A Verse-by-Verse Contemporary Commentary (JPS, 2016) and Go to Nineveh: Medieval Jewish Commentaries on the Book of Jonah translated and Explained (Pickwick Publications, 2013).
Last Updated
September 23, 2026
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Farmers and soldiers built sukkot as temporary shelters, as did pilgrims coming to Jerusalem for the week-long Sukkot festival. The practice of building a sukkah “each on his roof, and in their courtyards,” as described in Nehemiah (8:14–17), likely began in exile, in memory of the pilgrim booths of First Temple times. It then entered Leviticus as a commandment and reached the wider Judean public through Ezra’s Torah reading.
Farmers and soldiers built sukkot as temporary shelters, as did pilgrims coming to Jerusalem for the week-long Sukkot festival. The practice of building a sukkah “each on his roof, and in their courtyards,” as described in Nehemiah (8:14–17), likely began in exile, in memory of the pilgrim booths of First Temple times. It then entered Leviticus as a commandment and reached the wider Judean public through Ezra’s Torah reading.
The Book of Jonah is unique in describing an Israelite prophet sent to an Assyrian city to rebuke them for their sins and persuade them to repent. Were the Assyrians merely bit players in the divine plan for Israel, or does God really care about the sins of non-Israelites? Radak, Abravanel, and ibn Ezra have very different theological approaches to this question.
The Book of Jonah is unique in describing an Israelite prophet sent to an Assyrian city to rebuke them for their sins and persuade them to repent. Were the Assyrians merely bit players in the divine plan for Israel, or does God really care about the sins of non-Israelites? Radak, Abravanel, and ibn Ezra have very different theological approaches to this question.
