Articles

Parashat Behar: The Power of Seven Seven days, seven years, seven verses. Judaism’s obsession with the number seven reveals a brilliant insight into life’s natural rhythm. From work-life balance to shmita, exploring what it means to let go By Lior Tal Sadeh

The Shulchan Aruch of Jewish Ideas Most Jews have been holding it ever since childhood, but it doesn’t receive the attention it deserves. A fresh look at the siddur – and why it may be the most important Jewish text of all By Alex Stein

Neither Safe Nor Separate From the Civil War to October 7, American Jews have rarely been far from the fault lines of their country’s history. Historian Eli Lederhendler traces the moments of crisis that tested Jewish-American identity and finds that the tensions of today are older than they seem By Gilad Halpern

The Time to Take a Stand The past two years have taught Meydad Eliyahu that reality surpasses all imagination. In the exhibition “My Life at the Moment” he presents works born out of the war, and speaks about creating in real time, and about the possibility of translating images of reality into an artistic language By Noa Sorek

Parashat Emor: Commentary Revolutions How did the Sages transform “eye for eye” into the idea of monetary compensation despite the Torah’s clear language? Exploring the hermeneutical revolution: charitable interpretation, internal contradictions, and the radical claim that meaning is created, not discovered By Lior Tal Sadeh

The Objects You Cannot Touch Where did the concept of muktzeh come from, and why does moving a hammer on Shabbat matter so much? Dr. Yoel Kretzmer-Raziel traces the history of this overlooked part of Jewish law from the Bible to the Talmud By Alex Stein

Kedoshim and Acharei Mot Torah Portions: A Society of Deceit Exploring how the Torah’s plural language warns not only against personal wrongdoing, but against the normalization of dishonesty within the moral fabric of society By Lior Tal Sadeh

Not Only Hardship: Toil in the Declaration of Independence “Honest toil” is a short phrase from the Declaration of Independence that holds within it a great vision. Lior Tal Sadeh offers an important reminder for Independence Day By Lior Tal Sadeh

Between Revelation and Reason When modern scholarship began to treat the Bible as a document written by humans, Orthodox rabbis fought back – not by rejecting critical thinking, but by mastering it By Gilad Halpern

Parashat Tazria-Metzora: On Circumcision Circumcision creates a covenant in flesh, making a newborn baby part of an ancient story. Yet to a modern observer, this ritual raises difficult questions about tradition, autonomy, and what we owe our children By Lior Tal Sadeh

Wisdom of the Future Professor Yossi Turner believes three thousand years of Jewish texts hold hard-won answers about despair and recovery – answers we’ve largely stopped consulting, and urgently need now By Alex Stein

Dayenu: What Is Enough for Us? The popular Passover song Dayenu hides a radical idea – the Exodus matters more than everything that followed. From feminist retellings to simple daily blessings, each generation redefines what “enough” truly means By Lior Tal Sadeh

The Writing Isn’t Always on the Wall There is no trace of the Exodus in ancient Egyptian inscriptions – so how do some scholars still claim it was a historical event? Prof. Joshua Berman in an interview on cultural appropriation, shifting the lens, and agendas in academia By Noa Sorek

Parashat Tzav: What Remains After the sacrifice burns, ash remains. After the war ends, debris remains. The Torah’s ritual for clearing ash offers a lesson about tending carefully to what is left behind – and releasing what lies beyond reach By Lior Tal Sadeh

Funny Knows No Age Ephraim Sidon, at 80, remains one of Israel’s most sharp-tongued voices – from television to children’s books, his wit has never dulled. On March 30, he brings that wit directly to children in a live online session from BAC By BAC Staff