Judaism

"The Dark Side of Judaism"

Not only does the Torah revolutionize theology by declaring that Jewish religious leaders are fallible, it goes much further, often even highlighting their shortcomings. This is so very different from what is portrayed by other faith systems, where religious leaders are always infallible and never depicted as mistaken or ever saying or doing anything wrong.

"Avoiding the Philistines"

Despite G-d’s intentions to bring the people to the Promised Land, G-d does not lead the Israelites on a direct route to Canaan. The commentators question: What was the Al-mighty’s strategy in taking a roundabout route?

“‘Is This What You Call Borrowing?’--Revisited”

In this week’s analysis, we offer two additional significant responses, attempting to explain how the Israelites were permitted to “borrow” vessels of gold and silver from their Egyptian neighbors, emptying out Egypt.

"Messages from the Nile"

As the central feature of Egypt, it was logical that the Nile would be the first object of G-d’s wrath. Hence, the first two plagues, blood and frogs, are visited upon the Nile. But, there is much more that the Nile represents.

“Pharaoh’s Three Counselors”

The rabbis of the Midrash are not satisfied with the causes cited by Scripture (dual loyalty, or the Egyptians’ fear that the Israelites will depart and leave Egypt impoverished) that presumably lead Pharaoh to call for enslaving the Jews and killing their children. The Midrash therefore attempts to tie together all the loose ends in the story of Israel’s experiences in Egypt.