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Modern Midrash

Lot Sexually Manipulates His Two Daughters

After escaping Sodom, Lot and his daughters hide out in a cave. Believing they were the last humans on earth, the daughters get their father drunk, and conceive children with him while he is asleep. But since when do daughters rape their fathers? A womanist midrashic reading retells the story from their perspective.

Prof. Rev.

Wil Gafney

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On Sacrifices and Life: Wholeness Dismembered but Re-membered

A burnt offering, must be whole (תמים), after which it is dismembered (נתוח) and offered to YHWH. In the wake of the loss of my parents, I have come to appreciate how this process mirrors the creation story and life.

Prof. Rabbi

Wendy Zierler

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Reconciling Hagar and Sarah: Feminist Midrash and National Conflict

Hagar and Sarah are the matriarchs of the Arabs and the Jews in Jewish and Muslim interpretation. In the Bible, the feud between the two women is never mended, but Jewish and Muslim feminist readers have used midrash-style poetry to rewrite the ending of their story, in hope of reconciling the contemporary conflict between their putative descendants.

Noam Zion

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A Tribute to the Blasphemer’s Mother: Shelomit, Daughter of Divri

A struggling ex-slave and single mother labors against all odds to raise her son and shield him from the prejudices of the surrounding community.

Prof. Rabbi

Wendy Zierler

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The Enduring Value of “These Days of Purim”

The Book of Esther emphasizes the ongoing obligation to observe Purim, and Maimonides asserts that it will endure even into the messianic age. Yet many modern Jewish thinkers have questioned this holiday’s continued relevance. What value does Purim continue to hold?

Prof. Rabbi

Wendy Zierler

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The Right Way to Read the Haggadah

The Seder as a Night of Hermeneutic Freedom: Introducing the Four Readers of the Haggadah

Dr. Rabbi

Norman Solomon

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Can Elijah Reconcile Fathers and Sons?

Biblical tradition often depicts difficult father and son relationships. Accordingly, the concluding verses of Malachi—the final book of the Prophets—imagines ultimate redemption through a metaphor of father-son reconciliation, in which the fire and brimstone prophet Elijah is its unlikely harbinger. Leave it to the poet Yehuda Amichai to step in and offer a counter-model to rescue the metaphor.

Prof. Rabbi

Wendy Zierler

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The Skin of the Metzora and the Heart of the Messiah

Prof. Rabbi

Wendy Zierler

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Re-Encountering Miriam

The biblical portrait of Miriam can leave the modern reader with a lingering bitterness, but a closer reading highlights her prophetic role, and her willingness to challenge the social norms and pursue an alternative, redemptive course.

Prof. Rabbi

Wendy Zierler

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The Opening of Devarim: Redaction Criticism and Modern Midrash

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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