Jacob’s Ladder and Exile: Comfort Zones vs. Risk

Jacob’s Ladder and Exile:  Comfort Zones vs. Risk  by Yaakov Bieler            At one point, Adam Gopnick, as part of his discussion about Charles Darwin in his book  entitled, Angels and Ages: A Short Book about Darwin, Lincoln and Modern Life (Knopf, New York, 2009) writes that great scientific discoveries are such that when others [...]

The Akeidah and Our Commitment to Halakha

The Akeidah and Our Commitment to Halakha  by Aryeh Klapper “Do not send your hand forth against the lad; Do not do him any harm”.  Every year at this time we tremble in suspense as Avraham raises the knife, then sigh in relief when the angel calls out in time to save Yitzchak.  We rejoice [...]

“The Canaanites Were Then in the Land”: Ibn Ezra, Post-Mosaic Editorial Insertions, and the Canaanite Exile from the Land

“The Canaanites Were Then in the Land”:  Ibn Ezra,  Post-Mosaic Editorial Insertions, and the Canaanite Exile from the Land  by Aryeh Klapper  Genesis 12:1-7: בראשית פרק יב (א) ויאמר יקוק אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך: (ב) ואעשך לגוי גדול ואברכך ואגדלה שמך והיה ברכה: (ג) ואברכה מברכיך ומקללך אאר ונברכו בך [...]

On the Role of Intuition in Shaping One’s Service of God: The Change at Sinai and the Difference Between Avraham and Noach

On the Role of Intuition in Shaping One’s Service of God: The Change at Sinai and the Difference Between Avraham and Noach By Gidon Rothstein What’s So Bad About Noach? Rashi, following the tenor of Hazal, beats up on Noach, seemingly anxious to point out his failings. For just one example, Rashi records a dispute [...]

From Our Archives: The Biblical Stories of Creation, Garden of Eden and the Flood: Story or Metaphor?

The title of Shubert Spero’s article speaks for itself – click here to read the article. Also check out  the communications section of latest issue of Tradition (42:2) in which Prof. Spero and Prof. David Shatz debate whether the article represents a case of Biblical concordism.  – Shlomo Brody

Guest Post – Creation and the Flood in Ancient Myth and in the Torah: Ma’aseh Bereshit as Social Theory by Joshua Berman

Creation and the Flood in Ancient Myth and in the Torah: Ma’aseh Bereshit as Social Theory by Joshua Berman It might seem obvious that the Torah should begin at the beginning, with the creation of the world and of mankind.  Yet, the midrsah, made famous by Rashi, wasn’t at all sure that the Torah should begin [...]

“So Long” vs “Thanks for All the Fish”: A New Reading of Sefer Yonah and Its Implications for Modern Orthodoxy

“So long” vs. “Thanks for all the fish”[1]: A New Reading of Sefer Yonah and Its Implications for Modern Orthodoxy By Aryeh Klapper              Imagine a man coming into Times Square looking and smelling like he’s spent considerable time inside a fish.  The man climbs onto a soapbox and declaims: “The end is nigh!”  How [...]

Land and Sea, Natural and Supernatural in the Book of Jonah

Land and Sea, Natural and Supernatural in the Book of Jonah by Daniel Reifman  Like many texts that have been incorporated into the liturgy, the book of Jonah seems inseparable from the time it is read in the synagogue: the afternoon of Yom Kippur. As the day draws to a close, our thoughts turn to [...]

Books of Interest – Recent Works of Rabbi Mordechai Breuer

Mordechai Breuer, Pirqe Miqraot, Tvunot Press – Herzog College, Alon Shvut, 2009.  362 pages.  [Hebrew] The ‘Aspects Theory’ of Rav Mordechai Breuer:  Articles and Responses ed. Yosef Ofer, Tvunot Press – Herzog College, Alon Shvut, 2005.  369 pages. [Hebrew] Megadim 50 (Tamuz 5769), 268 pages. [Hebrew] In 1999, Tradition (33:3) published an essay by Rabbi Meir [...]

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