Latest Essays
Making Sense of the Revelation at Sinai
Making Sense of the Revelation at Sinai
Did Moses take dictation? How can we vouch for his prophecy today? In what way is the Torah a product of divine origin? Revisiting Maimonides’ Eighth Principle of Faith can empower us to stand–once again–with Moses on Sinai.
A More Religious Megillah: The Jewish-Greek Version of Esther
A More Religious Megillah: The Jewish-Greek Version of Esther
The Jewish-Greek version of Esther adds several elements into the story, including prayers to God, prophetic dreams, and recognition of God's intervention. These passages were added in Hasmonean Jerusalem, and highlights the conflict between the original diaspora book and how it was received in Hasmonean Judea.
“The LORD Spoke to Moses” – Does God Speak?
“The LORD Spoke to Moses” – Does God Speak?
Even those who categorically deny that God has form, is composed of matter, is visible, or is subject to the constraints of time and place, cannot seem to relinquish the notion that God speaks precisely as described in the Bible.
Bezalel ben Uri and the Impotence of Foreign Deities
Bezalel ben Uri and the Impotence of Foreign Deities
“See, YHWH has called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri.” (Exodus 35:30) Who is Bezalel and why is he chosen as the architect and artisan of the Tabernacle?
Abraham, Smasher of Idols, and the Question of the Torah’s Historicity
Abraham, Smasher of Idols, and the Question of the Torah’s Historicity
Does Abraham really need to be historical in order to claim an important role in Jewish religious consciousness? Should the Torah be seen as a historical account reported by God, or simply as the story of God?
The Cherubim: Their Role on the Ark in the Holy of Holies
The Cherubim: Their Role on the Ark in the Holy of Holies
Babies, birds, angels, even Torah scholars, tradition has interpreted cherubs in various ways, but what was their function on the ark?
Bring the Man to the Carcass or the Carcass to the Man?
Bring the Man to the Carcass or the Carcass to the Man?
A 2000-year-old question on how to read a single word in the Torah has generated different opinions on how a custodian for someone’s animal should go about proving that the animal was killed by a beast and not stolen.
Prohibition of Meat and Milk: Its Origins in the Text
Prohibition of Meat and Milk: Its Origins in the Text
The Torah states “do not cook a kid in its mother's milk.” What does this phrase mean, and how did it develop into the prohibition of mixing meat and milk?
Documentary Hypothesis: The Revelation of YHWH’s Name Continues to Enlighten
Documentary Hypothesis: The Revelation of YHWH’s Name Continues to Enlighten
When God reveals the name YHWH to Moses in Exodus, he says that not even the patriarchs knew this name, yet they all use it in Genesis. Critical scholarship’s solution to this problem led to one of the most important academic innovations in biblical studies in the last three hundred years: the Documentary Hypothesis.
