Distracted by Blessing
In this week’s Torah portion, Balak, the king of Moab, Balak, is afraid that the Israelites’ encampment will ravish his land. He seeks to have a diviner named Balaam curse the Israelites. But God turns the curses to blessings.
Their Father’s Sin Is Not Their Own
In Parashat Pinchas, we learn the intriguing fact that “the sons of Korach did not die.” This conflicts with an account about Korach in an earlier chapter, which states that the ground opened up and swallowed him, his household and his followers. What does this discrepancy mean?
How Clothing Conveys Value, Rebuke, and Resurrection in the Bible
The Torah portion, Naso, refers extensively to laws regarding the unfaithful wife. It is hard to say anything positive about this law, and I'm not motivated to try to do so. I want to focus my critical reading of this law on one detail that may, at first read, look marginal: the part in the ceremony when "the priest shall bare the woman’s head "(Num. 5:18).
Determining if Aaron Really Is a Man of Peace
Surprising Insights from the Grasshopper
Much of how we come to know ourselves is the result of human encounters.
How Leaders Can Use Guilt to Control a People
Parashat Korach tells the story of Korach’s rebellion against Moses and Aaron.