Jewish Quest

Send us Fan Mail Dr Deena Grant explores the connection between the ark and the golden calf.  Dr. Grant values studying and teaching the Hebrew Bible from a historical-critical perspective and also as it is interpreted and lived out by faith communities. She is currently working on the concept of hate in the Hebrew Bible and has published a Divine Anger in the Hebrew Bible, which explores varying...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Roni Tabick asks why the Torah was given in the midst of a storm. Rabbi Roni Tabick is rabbi of New Stoke Newington Shul. He was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. With a Masters in Ancient Judaism, Rabbi Tabick specialises in Talmud, mysticism and Jewish Mythology, especially the Leviathan and other sea monsters

Send us Fan Mail Professor Joel Hecker shares the mystical meanings of manna.  Prof. Joel Hecker is Professor of Jewish Mysticism at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He received his Ph. D. in Judaic Studies from New York University in 1996, and his rabbinic ordination and a M.A. in Jewish Philosophy from Yeshiva University in 1990. He is the author of Volumes 11 and (with Nathan Wolski) V...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Jan Uhrbach is founding director of the Block / Kolker Center for Spiritual Arts. She brings a passion for prayer to the JTS community. Through her work as director of the Block / Kolker Center for Spiritual Arts, she has developed and overseen programs and discussions, as well as prayer services on Shabbat and festivals, for the JTS community and the general public. In addi...

Send us Fan Mail Professor Gary Rendsburg shares the importance of understanding the plagues in their Egyptian context. Professor Gary Rendsburg serves as the Blanche and Irving Laurie Professor of Jewish History in the Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University. His Ph. D. and M.A. are from N.Y.U. Rendsburg is the author of seven books and about 190 articles and has been a regular contrib...

Send us Fan Mail Professor Carl Ehrlich asks whether the Exodus is more history or legend.  Carl S. Ehrlich (Ph. D. Harvard ’91) is University Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel in the Departments of History and Humanities, and former Director of ths Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University in Toronto.  Among  his areas of interest are synchronic, diachron...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Daniel Nevins explores the legacies of Jacob and Joseph and shares an important overarching lesson from the book of Genesis.  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 2...

Send us Fan Mail Simon Eder explores the way in which again and again Joseph connects the dots.

Send us Fan Mail Professor Naomi Graetz discusses Asnath, the mysterious wife of Joseph. Naomi Graetz taught English at Ben Gurion University of the Negev for 35 years. She is the author of Unlocking the Garden: A Feminist Jewish Look at the Bible, Midrash and God (Piscataway NJ: Gorgias Press, 2005), The Rabbi’s Wife Plays at Murder (Beersheva: Shiluv Press, 2004), S/He Created Them: Feminist Ret...

Send us Fan Mail Abraham Joshua Heschel was perhaps the most influential figure in Jewish thought over the last century. Born in 1907, he grew up in Warsaw amongst Polish Hasidim and indeed was descended Rabbinic luminaries on both sides. He was though perhaps always happiest at the nexus between the sacred and the secular. Heschel studied philosophy and Biblical criticism in Berlin before becomin...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Shimon Felix discusses some of the key themes that we encounter in the Joseph story and shares their relevance for today.  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 Yeshiv...

Send us Fan Mail Professor Naomi Graetz discusses the rape of Dinah in light of both favourable and negative views of welcoming outsiders into the tradition.  Naomi Graetz taught English at Ben Gurion University of the Negev for 35 years. She is the author of Unlocking the Garden: A Feminist Jewish Look at the Bible, Midrash and God (Piscataway NJ: Gorgias Press, 2005), The Rabbi’s Wife Plays at M...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Samuel Klein discusses the parallels between Jacob's first encounter with Rachel and Marina Abromivic's performance at MOMA in 2010 entitled: ''The Artist is Present''. CLICK TO VIEW    Rabbi Samuel Klein is Director of Jewish Engagement for the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. Samuel was Chief Jewish Officer of the Jewish Community Center...

Send us Fan Mail Anthony Julius deconstructs the character of Abraham and hints at the unique challenge that he poses to our own Jewish identity today.  Anthony Julius holds the chair in Law and Arts at UCL and is also the Deputy Chair of Mishcon de Reya. His publications include T. S. Eliot, Anti-Semitism and Literary Form and Trials of the Diaspora A History of Anti-Semitism in England. 

Send us Fan Mail Reuven Firestone explores Avraham's reconciliation with Ishmael in the Jewish and Muslim traditions.  Prof. Rabbi Reuven Firestone is the Regenstein Professor in Medieval Judaism and Islam at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where he earned his M.A. and his rabbinic ordination, while his Ph. D. in Arabic and Islamic studies is from New York University. F...

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Send us Fan Mail Dr Rabbi Tzemah Yoreh asks whether Isaac is really Abraham's son and argues that he was in fact sacrificed.  Rabbi Dr. Tzemah Yoreh, leader of The City Congregation, is one the intellectual leaders of Jewish humanism. He has been a student of the Bible since his earliest days, winning the Diaspora Division of the International Bible Contest in childhood. He attended the Hebre...

Send us Fan Mail Professor Christoph Levin argues that the character of Abraham prefigures key elements of the Exodus narrative.  Professor Christoph Levin is Professor (Emeritus) of Old Testament at the University of Munich. He received his Ph. D. and Dr.habil. from Goettingen university, as well as a honorary degree from Helsinki university. Two of his books have been translated into English, Re...

Send us Fan Mail Professor Ronald Hendel explores the multiple meanings of the Tower of Babel story and its relevance for today.  Professor Ronald Hendel is the Norma and Sam Dabby Professor of Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He holds a Ph. D. from Harvard University in Biblical History and Northwest Semitic Philology and is author of many articles and bo...

Send us Fan Mail Prof Rav Rachel Adelman compares the blessings of Moses with those of Jacob in Genesis. Prof. Rav Rachel Adelman is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Boston’s Hebrew College. She holds a Ph. D. in Hebrew Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and is the author of The Return of the Repressed: Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer and the Pseudepigrapha (Brill 2009) and The Femal...

Send us Fan Mail Rabbi Zohar Atkins acts as the Defence Attorney for Cain and explains why the Cain and Abel story is far more complicated than we might first initially think.  Zohar Atkins is is the Founder of Etz Hasadeh, a Center for Existential Torah. He is a Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. He holds a DPhil in Theology from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and se...

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Send us Fan Mail Dr Gili Kugler asks whether the Exodus generation entered the land or died in the wilderness.  Dr. Gili Kugler is a Senior Lecturer of Biblical Studies in the University of Haifa. Until recently she was a lecturer in Biblical Studies and Classical Hebrew at the University of Sydney. She holds a Ph. D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and teaches and writes about topics suc...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Rabbi Michael Marmur is Associate Professor of Jewish Theology at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. He holds a Ph. D. and M.A. from Hebrew University and a B.A. from Oxford. He is the author of Abraham Joshua Heschel and the Sources of Wonder, and his most recent publication is American Jewish Thought Since 1934: Writings on Identity, Engagement...

Send us Fan Mail Zvi Koenigsberg shares just what and where the Gilgal is.  Zvi Koenigsberg is the author of The Lost Temple of Israel. He spent almost a decade studying archaeology and the Bible under the informal mentorship of the late president of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Professor Benjamin Mazar, who excavated the Western Wall. Koenigsberg worked with Professor Adam Zertal of Haifa...