Rabbi Dr. Zev Farber
Rabbi Dr. Zev Farber is Senior Editor of TheTorah.com at the Academic Torah Institute (ATI), and the founder and director of Prisma, tap the wisdom of world religions, skip the dogma (prisma.guide). His Ph.D. is from Emory University and rabbinic ordination from YCT Rabbinical School. He is the co-author of The Bible's First Kings: Uncovering the Story of Saul, David, and Solomon (Cambridge, 2025) and Images of Joshua in the Bible and their Reception (De Gruyter, 2016). Rabbi Farber is also the editor of the two-volume Halakhic Realities: Collected Essays on Brain Death and Organ Donation (Maggid, 2015, 2017). He writes fiction (as Z.I. Farber): Two Wrongs and Doing What It Takes. For links to his articles, books, Substacks, and social media, go to zfarber.com.
Articles by Rabbi Dr. Zev Farber
Why Mikveh Isn’t Mentioned in the Torah
Ritual purification didn’t always involve immersion.
Christmas and Hanukkah Have More in Common Than You Think
Winter festivals meet a primal need that humans infuse with meaning.
Does the Bible Approve of Kings?
Jewish texts are of two minds about what it means to live in a monarchy.
King Saul: The First King of Israel
The monarch who defeated Israel’s enemies and sparred with David has multiple origin stories and a mixed legacy.
Was Noah Just God’s Favorite?
With humanity all but destroyed, depictions of Noah emerge and diverge.
The Enemy Is Ourselves
The lesson of the one Jewish holiday commemorating a political assassination.
Why Hanukkah Became Such a Big Deal
Though it is ostensibly about the purification of the Temple, Hanukkah really marks the political achievement of the Hasmoneans.
The Anxiety of Autumn
Jewish tradition places its celebration of the new year at a precarious moment in the calendar.
Hope and Curses
The curses listed at the end of the Book of Leviticus are less a warning than an empowering message that the past need not be repeated.