What's in a word?

Essays from my What's in a Word? series related to Elul and Yamim Noraim: Roads and Paths; Ways

A Time to Whistle The prophets have long consoled the Jewish People by stressing that even after the

The Sharp River Although the Book of Numbers delineates the Holy Land's eastern border as

Over the years, I've written a lot of different pieces on many different topics. But when people

Matos-Masei: The Wormy Place "Know from whence you came, to where you are going, and before whom

Pinchas: An Asinine Essay (Part 2/2) In Part I, we discussed the words chamor (domesticated donkey),

Balak: An Asinine Essay (Part 1/2) The famous scene of Balaam and his talking donkey serves as our

Chukas: Words for War At the end of Parashat Chukat, the Jews fought their inaugural battles in the

Korach: Growing the Fringes (Part 2/2) In Part I of this essay, we explored the words tzitzit and

Dear Friends, With Daf Yomi beginning Maseches Avodah Zarah tomorrow, now is the perfect time to get

Shelach: Growing the Fringes (Part 1/2) The end of Parashat Shelach talks about a very special

Behaaloscha: Chew That The contextual hook for this week's essay relates to a scene from Parashat

Coincidence or Happenstance? (Part 2/2) In Part I of this essay, we explored the Hebrew term mikreh/

Coincidence or Happenstance? (Part 1/2) In a Biblical passage that the Talmud (Megillah 31b) ordains

Why did the Chofetz Chaim refuse to stay in Warsaw for Shavuos? In what language did Hashem say the

Behar/Bechukosai: A Window into Widows (Part 2/2) In last week's essay, we started to discuss the

Emor: A Window into Widows (Part 1/2) In Parashat Emor, the noun almanah (“widow”) appears twice:

In about an hour (9pm Israeli time, 2pm EST), I will be premiering on YouTube my full-length lecture

Later today (at 9pm Israeli time, 2pm EST), I will be premiering on YouTube my full-length lecture

Acharei Mos/Kedoshim: The Watchers and Guardians In the part of Leviticus that scholars call “The

Spot on Tzar'at The affliction known in the Bible as tzara'at has variously been translated

Shemini: Dancing Away When King David finally brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, there was

Over the years, I've written several essays related to Pesach (mostly in my What's in a Word?

Vayikra: Seeing Red (Part 3/3) Two weeks ago, we inaugurated our three-part series that explores

Pekudai: Seeing Red (Part 2/3) Last week, we read Parshat Parah, the third of four special Torah

Vayakhel/Parah: Seeing Red (Part 1/2) This week, we read Parshat Parah, one of the four special Torah

Ki Sisa/Purim: Heavy Honors One of the highlights of Purim is singing the song La'Yehudim haysa

If you are an American Jew, you are eligible to vote in the World Zionist Congress elections. It

Titzaveh/Purim: Do the Din The Scroll of Esther jumps straight into the action, setting the scene of

Terumah: Color Me The Talmud (Shabbat 49b, 73b-74b, 96b) teaches that the thirty-nine forms of labor