Avi Weiss

As a child, I attended Yeshiva Torah Vodaath. Every day at morning services, I was mesmerized by an older man named Rabbi Chaim Gelb. I can still remember Reb Chaim calling out “Amen.” Sometimes he…

While a prophet may not change Torah law, he may override it temporarily – except in the case of idolatry. No prophet may advocate idol worship, no matter the circumstances. If he does, or if he at…

The Torah’s sympathetic attitude toward ecology surfaces in a law legislating conduct during war. “When you besiege a city for many days to wage war against it, to seize it, do not destroy its tree…

The Torah's sympathetic attitude toward ecology surfaces in a law legislating conduct during war. “When you besiege a city for many days to wage war against it, to seize it, do not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them, for from it you will eat and you shall not cut it down.” The Torah then offers a deeper rationale explaining why the tree should not be cut down: “Ki ha'adam etz hasadeh” (Deuteronomy 20:19). What do these words mean?

And so, a prayer: For all the love since October 7 opened a deep well of pain - from the Diaspora's kindness to the moral war that called the best of Israel

Every seven years, immediately after the Sabbatical year, on the first of the intermediate days of Sukkot, the Israelites gathered to publicly hear the king reading from the Torah. This is called t…

With all of our differences, have we done enough to make sure that we are encircled—not divided but together as one peoplehood?

Terach, Abraham’s father, is often viewed in the Midrash as an evil man and nothing more than an idol worshipper (Bereishit Rabbah 38:13). A review of the literal text indicates otherwise. First of…

At Sarah’s insistence, Abraham marries Hagar. Soon after, Hagar becomes pregnant and Sarah is enraged. Here, the Torah uses the word va’te’aneha, which is commonly translated, “and she [Sarah] oppr…

The Akeidah opens with the words “And it came to pass, after these events, that God tested Abraham” (Genesis 22:1). The biblical Hebrew word for test is nisah. But for whom was the test intended? F…