If you want to understand what a book is about, look carefully at how it ends. In this week’s parsha, Vayechi, Genesis ends with three deeply significant scenes. First, Jacob blesses his … more

The last two festivals to be added to the Jewish calendar prior to modern times — Purim and Chanukah — are both about anti-Semitism. There is one obvious difference between them: … more

In one of the greatest transformations in all of literature, Joseph moves in one bound from prisoner to prime minister. What was it about Joseph — an outsider to Egyptian culture, a … more

The deception has taken place. Joseph was sold into slavery; his brothers dipped his coat in blood and they bring it back to their father, saying: “Look what we have found. Do you recognize … more

Twenty-two years have passed since Jacob fled his brother, penniless and alone, since Esau swore his revenge for what he saw as the theft of his blessing. Now the brothers are about to meet … more

The language of the Torah is, in Erich Auerbach’s famous phrase, “fraught with background.” Behind the events that are openly told are shadowy stories left for us to decipher. Hidden beneath … more

This week’s parsha, Vayeitzei, relates a powerful, primal vision of prayer: Jacob, alone and far from home, lies down for the night, with only stones for a pillow, and dreams of a ladder, with … more

G-d appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men were standing over against him; and … more

I n stately prose the Torah’s opening chapter describes the unfolding of the universe, the effortless creation of a single creative Force. Repeatedly we read, “And G-d said, Let there … more

In March 2015 I had a public conversation at Yale with the university’s president, Peter Salovey. The occasion was the 60th anniversary of the Marshall Scholarships, created by the British … more