Please take a few seconds to tell us a little about yourself:
Gender:
Age:
How would you describe your Jewish religious affiliation?
About how frequently, if at all, do you participate in Jewish life through Jewish organizations?
midrash

MIDRASH: The Interpretive Tradition

Midrash is a tool of interpretation which assumes that every word, letter, and even stroke of the pen in the Torah has meaning. Midrash Aggadah focuses on biblical narratives, Midrash Halakhah interprets legal passages. In modern times, midrash can include any retellings, additions, or twists on Torah stories.

LATEST ARTICLES: TEXTS

  • Bathsheba

    King David's wife and King Solomon's mother game on the scene because of David's wandering gaze.

  • Abigail

    How one woman's manners took her from wife of a rancher to wife of King David.

  • Dinah

    Was her intercourse with Shechem rape?

  • Sotah

    This ancient ritual represents supreme inequality.

  • In Yiddish

    How the Yiddish translation of the Torah, Megillot and Haftarot became associated with women.

BLOG HEADLINES

  • Best Of The Week

    Shabbat is starting earlier and earlier.

  • Wise Fridays: The Perils of High Office

    Rabbi Judah ben Tabai said: If anyone had said to me before I entered high office, "Assume that office," my only wish would have been to hound him to death.

  • Esther: The Whole (Operatic) Megillah

    This season, New York City Opera brought back on stage the late Hugo Weisgall's Esther, a contemporary work based on the biblical story of mortal danger and miraculous survival.

  • More Notes on Being a Good Host

    Two weeks ago in Parashat Vayera we read about how Abraham and Sarah were really stellar hosts, and on MJL we even featured our article on how to be a good host and a good guest.

  • Best of the Week

    The Yankees win! The Yankees win! Oh, I'm sorry.