Jewish Quest

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Dr Wendy Zierler discusses the anthropological importance of skin and the unlikely connection between skin affliction and the messiah.  Rabbi Wendy Ilene Zierler, Ph. D., is Sigmund Falk Professor of Modern Jewish Literature and Feminist Studies at HUC-JIR in New York. Prior to joining HUC-JIR she was a Research Fellow in the English Department of the University of Hong Kong...

Send us Fan Mail Miryam Margo-Wolfson asks what was the strange fire of Nadav and Avihu and just what are the lessons of their deaths for us today.  Miryam Margo-Wolfson is an intern at Temple Adath-Or and a fifth year Rabbinic and Cantorial student at Aleph Ordination Program. 

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Adam Zagoria-Moffet discusses the sacrifices as psychological impulses and argues that we should reclaim the notion of fire as the primary symbol of the Divine. 

Send us Fan Mail Dr Yitzhaq Feder uncovers the fascinating and unexpected relevance of the sacrificial laws.  Dr. Yitzhaq Feder is a lecturer at the University of Haifa. He is the author of Blood Expiation in Hittite and Biblical Ritual: Origins, Context and Meaning (Society of Biblical Literature, 2011). His most recent book, Purity and Pollution in the Hebrew Bible: From Embodied Experience to M...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Jeremy Gordon discusses his new commentary on the Book of Esther and the book's supreme relevance for our troubled times. 

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Shimon Felix discusses the importance of sacred space in Judaism.  Rabbi Shimon Felix is the Executive Director Emeritus of the program. He was born in New York, and has lived in Jerusalem since 1973. Rabbi Felix has been associated with The Bronfman Fellowship since 1991. He received his rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Hamivtar, where he served as educational director. Ra...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Dr James Jacobsen-Maisels shares the connection between the heart and the Mishkan.  Rabbi James Jacobsen-Maisels leads and directs the vision of Or HaLev. Ordained by Rav Daniel Landes, with a doctorate in Jewish Studies from the University of Chicago, he has been studying and teaching meditation and Jewish spirituality for over twenty five years. He was the founding Rosh Ye...

Send us Fan Mail Dr Jeremy Tabick uncovers a fascinating inner-biblical midrash.  Dr Jeremy Tabick is the content manager and faculty at Hadar, where he teaches, curates, and edits Hadar’s content – both online and in print – and project Zug courses. Jeremy recently completed a PhD in Talmud at JTS. He graduated from the University of Manchester (in the UK) with a Masters in Physics, and is an alu...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Dov Linzer asks what is signified by the lighting of the Menorah? Rabbi Dov Linzer is one of the leading voices of Modern Orthodoxy in the world today. He is the President and Rabbinic Head of the Modern Orthodox Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in Riverdale, New York. He is a teacher, lecturer, podcaster, and author. Rabbi Linzer has been a scholar-in-residence in...

Send us Fan Mail Executive Director of Rabbi Sara Paasche-Orlow discusses the act of giving.  Rabbi Sara Paasche-Orlow is Executive Director of Northeastern Hillel, previously the director of spiritual care at Hebrew Senior Life and co-author with Rabbi Joel Baron of Deathbed Wisdom of the Hasidic Masters, The Book of Departure and Caring for People at the End of Life.

Send us Fan Mail Professor Jacob Wright explores the evolution of Shabbat.  Professor Jacob L. Wright is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and the Director of Graduate Studies in Emory’s Tam Institute of Jewish Studies. His doctorate is from Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen. He is the author of Rebuilding Identity: The Nehemiah Memoir and its E...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Worch shares some of the Mei HaShiloach's insights on the giving of the Torah.  Rabbi Worch comes from a European Hassidic family. He translated Esh Kodesh, the Piacezna Rebbe’s Torah commentary from the Warsaw Getto (1939-42), published as Sacred Fire, and published his own Kabbalist Haggadah, a handbook of the Passover Seder as well as a translation of the writings of...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Danny Nevins discusses both the cultic and covenantal response to freedom. Rabbi Danny Nevins is dedicated to exploring the sacred realm of Torah and its intersection with contemporary ethics, culture, and technology. Ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Rabbi Nevins was named Head of School of Golda Och Academy in 2021, dedicating himself to support the faculty and...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Nelly Altenburger shares different explanations as to the meaning and purpose of the plagues.  Rabbi Nelly Altenburger became the new spiritual leader of Congregation Adath Israel in Middletown in the summer of 2020. Rabbi Altenburger was born and raised in Brazil and received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Hebrew Language and Literature from the University of Sao Paulo. She...

Send us Fan Mail Professor Rabbi Shaul Magid explores the ethical problems of God hardening Pharaoh's heart.  Professor Rabbi Shaul Magid is the Distinguished Fellow in Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College, and the former Jay and Jeannie Schottenstein Professor of Jewish Studies at Indiana University/Bloomington. He is also the rabbi of the Fire Island Synagogue in Seaview, NY. His M.A. is fro...

Send us Fan Mail Professor James Diamond discusses the philosophical and kabbalistic meaning of God's names and the most enigmatic three words of the entire Torah.  Professor James A. Diamond is the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo and former director of the university’s Friedberg Genizah Project. He holds a Ph. D. in Religious Studies and Medieval...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Dina Rosenberg discusses lying and deception in the Joseph story.  Rabbi Rosenberg is the Senior Rabbi at CSI. She was ordained at The Jewish Theological Seminary in 2011 and previously served Conservative congregations in Mississippi, Brooklyn-New York, Maryland, and New Jersey. She has served as the secretary of the Interfaith Clergy Association in Freehold, New Jersey and...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Nelly Altenburger reflects on the meaning of Joseph's tears.  Rabbi Nelly Altenburger became the new spiritual leader of Congregation Adath Israel in Middletown in the summer of 2020. Rabbi Altenburger was born and raised in Brazil and received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Hebrew Language and Literature from the University of Sao Paulo. She received a Master of Arts i...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Amanda Weiss discusses the importance of dreams in the Joseph story.  Rabbi Amanda Weiss is assistant Rabbi at Temple Isaiah, Maryland. 

Send us Fan Mail Professor Alan Levenson asks why the brothers really hate Joseph.  Alan T. Levenson holds the Schusterman/Josey Chair in Judaic History and is the Director of the Schusterman Center for Judaic and Israel Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Levenson has written extensively on the modern Jewish experience for both scholarly and popular audiences. His book, Between Philosemitism a...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Adam Zagoria-Moffet discusses Jacob's extra-human qualities and asks whether he is really worthy of bequeathing his name to the children of Israel. 

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Rebecca Rosenthal shares the importance of Jacob's epiphany.  Rabbi Rebecca Rosenthal joined Central Synagogue in the summer of 2015 as the Director of Youth & Family Education. Prior to Central, Rabbi Rosenthal was the Director of Children and Family Education at IKAR, a nationally recognized, innovative spiritual community in Los Angeles. While at IKAR, she reimag...

Send us Fan Mail Adam Zagoria-Moffet is Director of the Louis Jacobs Foundation and the rabbi of St. Albans Masorti Synagogue. He was ordained from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York where he also received an MA in Jewish Thought, studying the political philosophy of Rabbi Yehudah Ashlag (Ba’al haSulam). He grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and has lived in Minnesota, New York, and Israel befo...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Dr Daniel Zucker asks just who was Betuel? Rabbi Daniel M. Zucker, D.D. is the rabbi of Temple Hatikvah (Flanders, NJ) and President and CEO of Americans for Democracy in the Middle-East. He holds an M.A. in Hebrew Letters, a Doctor of Divinity (Honoris Causa) from JTS, and rabbinic ordination from HUC-JIR. A sampling of Zucker’s many articles on the Middle-East can be found...

Send us Fan Mail Jon D. Levenson is the Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard University, having previously taught at the University of Chicago and at Wellesley College. He has a strong interest in the philosophical and theological issues involved in biblical studies, especially the relationship of premodern modes of interpretation to modern historical criticism. Much of his work c...