Articles

A Jewish Journey Through Hungary While Jewish communities were expelled from Spain and England centuries ago, Hungary’s Jewish presence endured almost without interruption. Historian Dr. Katherine Aron-Beller reveals the rich tapestry of bourgeois integration, Hasidic mysticism, and tragic resilience that makes Hungary essential for understanding European Jewish history By Gilad Halpern

Parashat Vayeshev: On Compromise Judah proposed a compromise: don’t kill Joseph, sell him into slavery instead. His brothers agreed. Some compromises aren’t virtuous – they’re morally catastrophic. When does compromise become sin? By Lior Tal Sadeh

What Does Moses Have to Do with the Hasmoneans? Professor Avigdor Shinan explains why you can’t learn almost anything about the Hasmonean period from the Sages, but you can from Moses By Avigdor Shinan

Between Two Worlds Hayim Nahman Bialik stood on the threshold of traditional Jewish learning, caught between devotion and doubt. His poetry reveals a complex relationship with Torah study that went beyond simple nostalgia – and offers a model for navigating tradition and modernity that still resonates today By Alex Stein

The Hit Man Uzi Hitman, the cheerful children’s TV host, wrote and composed hundreds of songs that became so embedded in Israeli culture it feels like they’ve always existed. This is the story of a songwriter who refused to pick a genre and ended up defining a country’s sound By BAC Staff

Parashat Vayishlach: Fear Meets Embrace We often carry the memory of harm we’ve caused far longer than those we’ve hurt. Jacob’s reunion with Esau – and a revealing slip of the tongue – illuminates the psychological cost of unresolved guilt and the redemptive power of facing those we’ve wronged By Lior Tal Sadeh

The Lost Literary World of Judeo-Arabic For centuries, Arabic was the language of Jewish intellectual life, scholarship, and daily conversation. Yet this rich tradition – spanning groundbreaking Torah translations, philosophical treatises, and intimate letters – remains largely unknown. Professor Miriam Goldstein explores why recovering Judeo-Arabic literature is essential to understanding Jewish history By Alex Stein

Five Things You Didn’t Know About Brit Milah Circumcision is identified more than anything with Judaism – but its origin is much more distant. Dr. Yael Escojido shares five surprising facts about the ancient custom that crosses cultures and religions By Noa Sorek

Parashat Vayetze: Between Expectation and Reality Jacob waited seven years for Rachel and they felt like mere days. But when she needed him most, he failed her. How do we make the reality of love as sweet as its anticipation? By Lior Tal Sadeh

Parashat Toldot: When Flawed Ancestors Offer Hope We grew up hearing about Jacob the righteous and Esau the wicked. But the Torah itself tells a different story – one where our ancestors are deeply flawed people. A Los Angeles rabbi working with former addicts and criminals shows why that matters By Lior Tal Sadeh

The Rabbinic Imagination When the rabbis wrote about Alexander the Great, King Herod, and the fall of Jerusalem, they weren’t trying to record history – they were creating literature. Prof. Amram Tropper reveals how ancient sages transformed historical events into sophisticated narratives that carried their own messages By Alex Stein

The God of Descartes and Newton Religion, science, and the myth of the struggle between them – a conversation with Prof. Yemima Ben-Menahem By Noa Sorek

Parashat Chayei Sarah: The Plot Hole The banished Ishmael’s return to bury his father Abraham is explained by a VII century midrash: a story of reconciliation that offers hope for peace between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael today By Lior Tal Sadeh

The Jewish Question The question of the relationship between religion and nationhood has accompanied the people of Israel throughout the generations – from the Bible to the conflicts surrounding Zionism in the modern era. Dr. Assaf Malach returned to the roots of the question and to the multiplicity of voices within Judaism itself By Noa Sorek

Laughing off Disaster Professor David G. Roskies argues that Sholem Aleichem’s fictional Kasrilevka mirrors modern Israel’s struggles – from the Dreyfus Affair paralleling the hostage crisis to exploring resilience amid existential threat. Sholem Aleichem’s tragicomic vision remains urgently relevant By Gilad Halpern