https://www.thetorah.com/ Torah study informed and enriched by contemporary scholarship.en-US Fri, 30 Oct 2026 20:33:30 GMT https://www.thetorah.com/article/ishmael-prophet-in-the-quran-outcast-in-the-biblehttps://www.thetorah.com/article/ishmael-prophet-in-the-quran-outcast-in-the-bibleFri, 30 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe Quran presents Ishmael as a prophet who helped Abraham raise the foundations of the Kaʿba in Mecca. In the Bible, God blesses him to become a great nation, and it is clear that Abraham loves him. Yet, at Sarah’s demand, he is banished to the wilderness. Some midrashim explain this by portraying Ishmael as an idol worshiper or imagining him trying to shoot Isaac with an arrow. But do these interpretations reflect a straightforward reading of Ishmael’s character? And after the expulsion, does he remain an outcast from his family? https://www.thetorah.com/article/yhwh-visits-abraham-and-sarah-at-home-a-theophany-left-unspokenhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/yhwh-visits-abraham-and-sarah-at-home-a-theophany-left-unspokenWed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe biblical narrator tells us that YHWH appears to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre, yet Abraham sees three men. Does Abraham recognize YHWH? If so, why do neither Abraham nor Sarah explicitly acknowledge having seen God? The story’s “open narrative” invites readers to piece together the clues and interpret an encounter that unfolds not in a sanctuary, amid priests and liturgical rituals, but in an ordinary family setting, through hospitality, meal preparation, and conversation. https://www.thetorah.com/article/sodoms-collective-punishment-shall-the-judge-of-all-the-earth-not-do-justicehttps://www.thetorah.com/article/sodoms-collective-punishment-shall-the-judge-of-all-the-earth-not-do-justiceTue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTAbraham challenges God’s plan to destroy Sodom with two distinct arguments: the innocent must not suffer alongside the guilty, and a righteous minority should suffice to spare an entire city. Why does Abraham stop at ten innocents? Can collective punishment ever be just? The Rabbis sharpen Abraham’s critique of divine justice. Yet the story’s implications extend beyond whether perfect justice is attainable: God chose Abraham to teach his descendants righteousness and justice, even when it means challenging God. https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-mormon-book-of-abraham-joseph-smith-deciphers-abrahams-papyrihttps://www.thetorah.com/article/the-mormon-book-of-abraham-joseph-smith-deciphers-abrahams-papyriThu, 22 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTIn 1830, Joseph Smith claimed to have translated the Book of Mormon from tablets written in Egyptian. In 1835, he bought Egyptian funerary papyri from a traveling exhibitor, which he declared to have been written by Abraham. Over the coming years he published his translation as the Book of Abraham, which later became part of the LDS canon. Because every stage of this process is documented, we can see how a mid-century piece of American literature was made into scripture by a new religious movement. https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-role-of-angels-in-the-creation-of-humankindhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/the-role-of-angels-in-the-creation-of-humankindWed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT“Let us make humankind” (Genesis 1:26)—whom is God addressing? Across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, some interpreters have identified God’s audience as the angels but have assigned them strikingly different roles in humanity’s creation: collaborators, creators, or critics who question the wisdom of bringing humans and their corruption into existence. https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-ziggurat-of-babel-why-yhwh-descends-but-does-not-stayhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/the-ziggurat-of-babel-why-yhwh-descends-but-does-not-stayMon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTAfter Eden, YHWH no longer dwells among humans. The flood reverses creation, but YHWH still does not restore His presence. The builders of the Tower of Babel—a ziggurat with “its top in the heavens”—seek to bring YHWH down its stairway to inhabit the temple, but YHWH rejects their attempt to establish His presence on their own terms. Instead, YHWH chooses to come down to Jacob via the stairway of Bethel and later to Israel at Sinai, establishing His presence through His covenant with Israel and bringing order through the torah. https://www.thetorah.com/article/introducing-students-to-source-criticism-cutting-up-noahs-flood-storyhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/introducing-students-to-source-criticism-cutting-up-noahs-flood-storyWed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTI asked my 12th-grade students to divide the flood story (Genesis 6–9) into two narratives by applying four rules: look for different divine names, variations in style and language, distinct themes, and contradictions in the storyline. Is this the best pedagogical approach, or should we first teach students the established scholarship? And how can we teach students to read critically without misrepresenting the complexity of source criticism? https://www.thetorah.com/article/yhwh-and-elohim-one-god-different-attributeshttps://www.thetorah.com/article/yhwh-and-elohim-one-god-different-attributesTue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhy does Elohim, and not YHWH, create the world? Philo and the rabbis—though in opposite directions—each read the two names as two divine attributes, one beneficent and one that judges. The kabbalists see these as the sefirot דין Judgment and חסד Lovingkindness—while Ramchal further unites them as two colors in the prism of the divine crystal. https://www.thetorah.com/article/lots-daughters-an-inner-biblical-exegesis-of-hams-violation-of-noahhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/lots-daughters-an-inner-biblical-exegesis-of-hams-violation-of-noahMon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhat did Ham really do to Noah? The story of Lot’s daughters offers a clue. The two accounts share a striking sequence: a catastrophe, a righteous survivor, wine, drunkenness, and a violation within the family. By retelling Noah’s story through Lot and his daughters, the biblical author reveals his understanding of what Ham did—and turns an ambiguous episode into a more explicit account of sexual transgression. https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-nephilim-were-flesh-beshagam-a-biblical-hapax-legomenonhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/the-nephilim-were-flesh-beshagam-a-biblical-hapax-legomenonSun, 11 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTYHWH declares that his spirit will not endure forever among the Nephilim—demigods born from the union of divine beings and human women—בְּשַׁגַּם הוּא בָשָׂר beshagam hu basar (Genesis 6:3). What does this phrase mean? https://www.thetorah.com/article/why-dont-torah-scrolls-have-vowelshttps://www.thetorah.com/article/why-dont-torah-scrolls-have-vowelsFri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTAnd why do the letters have crowns? https://www.thetorah.com/article/on-the-pilgrims-path-to-the-temple-monumental-tombshttps://www.thetorah.com/article/on-the-pilgrims-path-to-the-temple-monumental-tombsFri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTJerusalem’s wealthiest families in the early Roman period built monumental tombs along the roads approaching the city, placing their wealth and status on display. Yet pilgrims heading to the Temple had to avoid entering or coming into contact with these tombs, lest they become impure and be barred from the very Temple they came to visit. https://www.thetorah.com/article/when-building-a-sukkah-became-a-commandmenthttps://www.thetorah.com/article/when-building-a-sukkah-became-a-commandmentThu, 24 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTFarmers and soldiers built sukkot as temporary shelters, as did pilgrims coming to Jerusalem for the week-long Sukkot festival. The practice of building a sukkah “each on his roof, and in their courtyards,” as described in Nehemiah (8:14–17), likely began in exile, in memory of the pilgrim booths of First Temple times. It then entered Leviticus as a commandment and reached the wider Judean public through Ezra’s Torah reading. https://www.thetorah.com/article/solomon-never-repents-but-kohelet-doeshttps://www.thetorah.com/article/solomon-never-repents-but-kohelet-doesWed, 23 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTDuring his reign, Solomon violates Deuteronomy’s law of the king (17:16–17): he acquires wealth, horses, and wives, and God declares that his kingdom will be torn away from his heirs. Yet unlike David, Solomon does not repent. Reading Ecclesiastes as written by Solomon, Rashi portrays the king as losing everything, including his kingdom, during his own lifetime, and not only repenting but also instituting protective measures for the Torah. https://www.thetorah.com/article/five-ancient-near-eastern-myths-behind-the-bibles-three-creation-accountshttps://www.thetorah.com/article/five-ancient-near-eastern-myths-behind-the-bibles-three-creation-accountsTue, 22 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe two creation stories in Genesis (1 and 2–3), and the hidden creation account in Psalms and the Prophets, can be read without their ancient Near Eastern context. But to understand what the biblical authors are responding to, revising, and arguing against, we need to consider four Mesopotamian stories—Atrahasis (ca. 1700 B.C.E.), Enuma Elish (late 2nd millennium B.C.E.), Adapa (early 2nd millennium B.C.E.), and the Epic of Gilgamesh (2nd millennium B.C.E.)—along with the Canaanite Baal Cycle (14th–13th century B.C.E.). https://www.thetorah.com/article/silencing-jonah-the-zealot-on-yom-kippurhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/silencing-jonah-the-zealot-on-yom-kippurFri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe sailors, Ninevites, and even a fish and a plant do what God asks in the book of Jonah; the prophet alone resists. A zealot who wants Nineveh punished, Jonah flees his mission because he fears God will forgive them. When the Ninevites repent and God spares them, Jonah is furious. Read on Yom Kippur, his story challenges those whose zeal demands justice for others while pleading for divine mercy for themselves. https://www.thetorah.com/article/exalting-jesus-did-early-christians-abandon-monotheismhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/exalting-jesus-did-early-christians-abandon-monotheismThu, 17 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTPaul’s portrayal of Jesus as an exalted ruler may seem to challenge Jewish monotheism. Yet the idea of a human king ruling on God’s behalf is already found in the Bible. Reading Paul alongside Jewish traditions of divine kingship shows how his claims about Jesus remain consistent with exclusive allegiance to one God. https://www.thetorah.com/article/yom-kippur-demands-more-than-repentancehttps://www.thetorah.com/article/yom-kippur-demands-more-than-repentanceWed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTWith clenched fists, we beat our chests in confession on Yom Kippur—but what are we still holding in our hands? The prophets decry those who defraud the poor, hoard ill-gotten gains, and then lift their hands in prayer. Ne’ilah, the closing prayer of Yom Kippur, echoes their warning: repentance is not complete until we return what we have wrongfully held to its rightful owner. Yom Kippur may end before restitution is complete, but repentance does not. https://www.thetorah.com/article/only-an-atheist-can-believe-in-godhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/only-an-atheist-can-believe-in-godWed, 09 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTOnly by contemplating the possibility of an immensely complex universe such as our own emerging and running without God is it possible to appreciate the alternative—that there is a God behind all of this, a deity concerning whom the Psalmist exclaimed: (104:24) “How many are the things You have made, YHWH!” https://www.thetorah.com/article/monotheism-is-harder-than-i-thoughthttps://www.thetorah.com/article/monotheism-is-harder-than-i-thoughtTue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTMy change of heart came to a head with the doctrine of monotheism. What could be more central to Judaism than this? But what is monotheism exactly? To my mind, belief in a single deity was not enough because one could believe in a god who despite his unique status, looks, acts, and sounds like a glorified human being—which is actually how YHWH is depicted in many biblical texts. https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-ram-caught-in-the-thicket-by-its-horns-rosh-hashanahs-shofarhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/the-ram-caught-in-the-thicket-by-its-horns-rosh-hashanahs-shofarMon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTAt the climax of the binding of Isaac, Abraham sees אַיִל אַחַר “a ram behind” (MT)... or does he see אַיִל אֶחָד “one ram” (SP, LXX, etc.)? Both readings are developed in midrash: aḥar into Israel’s future redemption through the shofar, eḥad into the primordial ram created for the Akedah—two paths that converge in the shofar of Rosh Hashanah. https://www.thetorah.com/article/farm-boy-to-biblical-scholarhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/farm-boy-to-biblical-scholarSun, 06 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTSome of my earliest and fondest memories are of my teachers talking about the stories of the Bible. My childhood was in many ways wonderfully idyllic. We had a beef-cattle farm of around sixty acres, my paternal grandparents had an adjoining dairy farm of one-hundred-and-forty acres, and my maternal grandparents had a nearby muck farm of about twenty acres (upon which onions were grown). I was surrounded by family, so kind and nurturing in innumerable ways. The reading and study of the Bible was a core component of our daily lives, especially, but not only, every Sunday and every Wednesday. https://www.thetorah.com/article/kosher-torah-text-three-generations-of-maimonides-strict-to-lenienthttps://www.thetorah.com/article/kosher-torah-text-three-generations-of-maimonides-strict-to-lenientFri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTRabbi Maimon, Moses Maimonides’ father, believed that the Torah’s exact wording and layout had been divinely dictated to Moses down to the smallest detail—including paragraph divisions (open vs. closed), spelling (defective vs. plene), and even the decorative taggin atop certain letters. Maimonides, despite his rationalist philosophy, largely maintained this stringent view, though he would not invalidate a Torah scroll due to missing taggin. His son, R. Abraham, further relaxed the requirements as the realities of medieval manuscripts made the older standards untenable. https://www.thetorah.com/article/when-ideals-become-idolshttps://www.thetorah.com/article/when-ideals-become-idolsThu, 03 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhen means become ends, ideals become idols. We cease to test our convictions against experience and instead force experience to conform to our convictions. In that moment, when we refuse to revise even closely held beliefs, genuine learning becomes impossible, for education and the formation of character require us to examine not only our ultimate commitments but also the beliefs and practices that guide us toward them. https://www.thetorah.com/article/christianitys-origins-they-are-jewishhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/christianitys-origins-they-are-jewishMon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTWithout ever intending to, my Jewish professors taught me that becoming a better Christian scholar required learning to inhabit the Jewish world from which Christianity emerged. The better I understood ancient Judaism, the better I understood Jesus. The better I understood Jewish interpretation, the better I understood Paul. https://www.thetorah.com/article/de-anthropomorphizing-god-did-it-really-begin-with-onkeloshttps://www.thetorah.com/article/de-anthropomorphizing-god-did-it-really-begin-with-onkelosMon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTOnkelos was not a proto-Maimonidean after all. His translation supplied Saʿadya and Maimonides with precedents that they could understand as evidence of a philosophical theology congenial to their own, but that does not mean that philosophy had produced those precedents in the first place. https://www.thetorah.com/article/moses-name-is-semitic-not-egyptianhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/moses-name-is-semitic-not-egyptianMon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTPharaoh’s daughter names the baby מֹשֶׁה, “for I drew him out of the water”—a Hebrew wordplay from an Egyptian princess?! Since the 19th century Egyptologist, Karl Lepsius, scholars have dismissed this biblical explanation as folk etymology, and instead posited that the name derives from Egyptian mśy, “to give birth,” as in Ramesses or Ahmose. But neither the consonants nor the vowels line up, and no ancient author ever made the connection. Rather, Moses’ name derives from the Semitic מ.שׁ.י, “to draw or glean.” https://www.thetorah.com/article/scribes-edited-the-bible-to-omit-problematic-textshttps://www.thetorah.com/article/scribes-edited-the-bible-to-omit-problematic-textsMon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTDid Hannah stand before YHWH in the Temple? Were Israelite males to see YHWH’s face three times a year? Did Moses and the elders see God on Mount Sinai? Were there temples to YHWH at Hebron and Samaria? The evidence shows that ancient scribes edited biblical texts to omit what they viewed as theological errors. https://www.thetorah.com/article/god-orthodox-judaism-and-israelhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/god-orthodox-judaism-and-israelFri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhen I was young American Jew, trying to figure out my personal relationship to my Judaism, I accepted some fundamental Jewish truths that had been instilled in me by family, school and community. They informed and inspired my personal commitments to Judaism and what I believed would be the trajectory of my life as a Jew and a human being. Over time, one by one, I had to change my mind about their truth. Uncertainties have replaced those certainties. https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-limits-of-memory-and-scrolls-how-the-torah-was-composedhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/the-limits-of-memory-and-scrolls-how-the-torah-was-composedFri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTMy convictions about the Bible being the product of a complex process of development have been affirmed by further study, as have many aspects of earlier models that I advocated. But doing this form of research also means that there is always room for modification and refinement as I get ideas about new data, new frameworks for analysis, and insights about how previous ideas can be improved. https://www.thetorah.com/article/does-the-bible-have-meaning-out-of-contexthttps://www.thetorah.com/article/does-the-bible-have-meaning-out-of-contextThu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTOnce upon a time, I worked from the starting point that, as a scholar of the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East who excavates at biblical sites, I read the text in “the original” (i.e. Hebrew or Aramaic) and the interpretation that flows from that is the “context” in which it should be understood. https://www.thetorah.com/article/revised-editions-what-right-do-i-have-to-try-and-convince-you-againhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/revised-editions-what-right-do-i-have-to-try-and-convince-you-againThu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTOver the course of exactly 36 years, I have written handbooks on textual criticism, a thriving field in which much happens; there are new revelations, new theories. As part of these events, I matured and my views changed. https://www.thetorah.com/article/there-were-three-torah-texts-until-we-found-the-dead-sea-scrollshttps://www.thetorah.com/article/there-were-three-torah-texts-until-we-found-the-dead-sea-scrollsThu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTIt is hard to overstate the impact that the discovery of the biblical scrolls from the Judaean Desert, especially those found in the eleven caves at Qumran, has had on the entire field of Hebrew Bible textual criticism in the last two generations. https://www.thetorah.com/article/when-i-stopped-seeing-the-bible-only-as-good-it-got-betterhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/when-i-stopped-seeing-the-bible-only-as-good-it-got-betterThu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTI find myself drawn to the disturbing grains of sand that make possible the making of a pearl. It is precisely those encounters, often painful and disruptive, that can produce the greatest insight and growth. I viewed the apparent injustices not as morally binding precedent, but as catalysts to learn, to interpret, to understand, and to transcend. https://www.thetorah.com/article/how-to-read-the-biblehttps://www.thetorah.com/article/how-to-read-the-bibleWed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhose Bible? Which version of the text? Including or excluding the New Testament? What about the differing list of deutero-canonical (“apocryphal”) works included in various traditions? https://www.thetorah.com/article/jonah-the-anti-prophethttps://www.thetorah.com/article/jonah-the-anti-prophetTue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe book of Jonah is infused with allusions to earlier biblical characters: its prophet flees like Cain, wills the city overturned–unlike Abraham, collapses like Elijah, passes through a Noah-like storm, and quotes Moses’ words of compassion as a complaint. Taken together, the book invites readers to measure Jonah against Israel’s remembered heroes of intercession, judgment, and repentance. https://www.thetorah.com/article/he-did-not-fear-god-amalek-or-israelhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/he-did-not-fear-god-amalek-or-israelFri, 21 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT“Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way, when you were faint and weary, and struck down all who lagged behind you; he did not fear God.”—Deuteronomy 25:17-18 https://www.thetorah.com/article/a-captive-womans-transition-to-wifehttps://www.thetorah.com/article/a-captive-womans-transition-to-wifeThu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTShe shaves her head, modifies her nails, changes her clothes, and mourns her parents for a month in the house of her captor. What is the significance of these requirements? What do they reveal about her transition into a new home? https://www.thetorah.com/article/prayer-a-courtroom-appeal-to-godhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/prayer-a-courtroom-appeal-to-godThu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTMoses, sentenced to die before entering the Promised Land, fasts, prays, and appeals to God to overturn the decree. But God orders the heavenly courts to close their gates so they would not hear Moses’s prayer. This midrash helps illustrate a conception of prayer as a legal appeal—found in the Bible and Hittite texts and reflected throughout much of the High Holiday liturgy: prayer can challenge a divine decree in the heavenly courtroom. https://www.thetorah.com/article/yhwhs-attributes-what-moses-learnshttps://www.thetorah.com/article/yhwhs-attributes-what-moses-learnsThu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTAfter the Golden Calf, Moses refuses to lead Israel unless YHWH remains with the people, and presses further: teach me Your ways. God deflects with a tautology—“I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious”—and only afterwards reveals the divine attributes (Exodus 34:6–7), compassion and grace, faithfulness for a thousand generations, but punishment for sin to the fourth. The list is not a catalogue of divine qualities but an explanation of how YHWH is willing to limit the divine power to engage directly and intimately with the people out of love. https://www.thetorah.com/article/protecting-second-marriages-deuteronomy-renders-palingamy-taboohttps://www.thetorah.com/article/protecting-second-marriages-deuteronomy-renders-palingamy-tabooWed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTDruze family law imposes severe restrictions on the relationship between a man and his former wife, providing insight into the biblical prohibition of palingamy—a man remarrying his ex-wife, if she has married someone else in the interim. https://www.thetorah.com/article/gemstones-of-the-gods-the-symbolism-of-the-high-priests-breastpiecehttps://www.thetorah.com/article/gemstones-of-the-gods-the-symbolism-of-the-high-priests-breastpieceThu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTEzekiel pictures Eden as a garden filled with precious stones—the same stones that adorn the high priest’s breastpiece. Across the ancient Near East, gods inhabit a world of jewel-bearing trees, gemstone mountains, and temples of lapis and gold. By wearing these stones when he enters YHWH’s sanctuary, the high priest dresses for the divine realm. https://www.thetorah.com/article/each-man-does-what-is-right-in-his-eyes-deuteronomy-128-a-crux-interpretumhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/each-man-does-what-is-right-in-his-eyes-deuteronomy-128-a-crux-interpretumWed, 05 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTWas sacrifice centralized in the Tabernacle in the wilderness, or were the people permitted to sacrifice wherever they pleased? This straightforward question defies a simple answer. https://www.thetorah.com/article/its-tradition-how-deuteronomys-reform-permits-non-sacrificial-slaughterhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/its-tradition-how-deuteronomys-reform-permits-non-sacrificial-slaughterTue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTTo consume meat, Exodus (20:24) requires that the animal be sacrificed at a local altar, i.e., in any place where YHWH proclaims His name. When Deuteronomy centralized the cult to “the place,” it had to permit secular slaughter for those who lived far away, and it did so by presenting this innovation as an interpretation of the older law. https://www.thetorah.com/article/shoo-the-mother-bird-away-to-live-longerhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/shoo-the-mother-bird-away-to-live-longerFri, 31 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTIs the Torah concerned with compassionate treatment of animals? The command to send away a mother bird before taking her eggs or chicks is one of four animal family laws that highlight the bonds between animals and their offspring. But these laws are not about preventing emotional pain for the animals—they ask us to recognize their familial bonds, even when humans ultimately override them. https://www.thetorah.com/article/samsons-vengeance-on-the-philistines-not-about-israel-but-three-womenhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/samsons-vengeance-on-the-philistines-not-about-israel-but-three-womenMon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTSamson’s adventures begin with a marriage to a Philistine bride that goes awry, leading him to burn the Philistines’ grain fields. Later, he sleeps with a Gazan prostitute and tears out the city’s gates. Finally, he leads Delilah, a courtesan, to believe that his hair is the source of his strength, and the Philistines capture him. Facing execution, Samson turns to God to help avenge him—only then does he fulfill his foretold role that he would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines https://www.thetorah.com/article/shabbat-the-promised-landhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/shabbat-the-promised-landMon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe promised land is described in Deuteronomy (12:9) by the hendiadys מְנוּחָה, menuchah, and נַחֲלָה, nachalah—a resting-place and heritage-land—and both terms are used several times in the Bible to refer to the land of Israel. Millennia later, these terms are given an afterlife in Jewish liturgy in reference to Shabbat; sacred space is anchored in time. https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-temple-that-survived-its-destructionhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/the-temple-that-survived-its-destructionWed, 22 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTJosephus, an eyewitness to the Temple, defends its splendor and its laws to the Greco-Roman world. He takes the reader on a tour of the building in its heyday, explaining details such as how far Non-Jews and women were permitted to proceed and what lay inside, while also countering Apion’s slanderous depictions of donkey worship and human sacrifice within its walls. By opening the Mosaic constitution with the Temple and grounding its rituals in Torah law, Josephus presents it as the enduring foundation of Jewish tradition, whose significance outlives the building itself. https://www.thetorah.com/article/a-voice-cries-out-in-the-wilderness-isaiah-translated-and-improvedhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/a-voice-cries-out-in-the-wilderness-isaiah-translated-and-improvedTue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTCan translators improve texts like Shakespeare? Or the Bible? Christians, drawing on the Greek Septuagint, claimed that the voice in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3) refers to John the Baptist. Jews, relying instead on the Aramaic Targum, viewed this verse as explicitly foretelling the return of Jewish exiles after the destruction of the Second Temple. But what did Isaiah actually mean? https://www.thetorah.com/article/did-they-fast-on-tisha-bav-during-the-second-temple-periodhttps://www.thetorah.com/article/did-they-fast-on-tisha-bav-during-the-second-temple-periodTue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTIn the early post-exilic period, the people ask the prophet Zechariah whether they should still fast to commemorate the destruction of the Temple now that it was being rebuilt. Zechariah, in a long collection of oracles, explains that the fasts will eventually be cancelled, once the people (7:9–10) “Execute true justice; deal loyally and compassionately with one another; do not defraud the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the poor; and do not plot evil against one another.” So, did they ever cancel the fasts?