Essay
Rembrandt, Balaam, and Us
Learning from Rembrandt’s painting of the Hebrew Bible’s one Gentile prophet.
Essay
The Mount of Olives and Jewish Immortality
The history of a mountain tells us a great deal about the Jewish approach to…
Essay
Fringes and Flags
The aesthetic tale of the Israeli flag is bound up with the color scheme of…
Essay
General George McClellan and the Sin of the Spies
A Civil War story provides perspective on one of the great failures of Israel in…
Essay
The Mysterious Parentheses in the Torah Scroll
Torah scrolls contain mysterious letters that bracket several sentences in Numbers. What do they mean?…
Essay
Churchill’s Hanukkah
A speech by Churchill to his alma mater sheds “light” on what the menorah represents.
Essay
Priestly Blessings in a Museum and on a Train
An archeological discovery allows us to appreciate three of the most beloved verses in the…
Essay
The Phantom Tollbooth and the Meaning of Numbers
A classic children’s book gives new insight into the biblical book known in English as…
Essay
Mark Twain, Leviticus, and the Holy Land
Mark Twain’s memoir of visiting the Holy Land is an unexpected source of religious inspiration.
Essay
The Liberty Bell and the Liberty Shofar
When a Hasidic Rebbe visited the Liberty Bell, he delivered a short speech about America…