The thought of Carl Jung helped me learn the distinction between the God one might believe in versus the gods that are operating within us. To know that a person believes in the idea of God of Judaism ...

After Pinchas kills the Jewish man and Midianite woman committing immoral acts, God applauds Pinchas, granting him a “brit shalom” (covenant of peace; Numbers 25:12). Can we deduce from God’s approval ...

After being told that he will soon die, Moses asks God to appoint a successor so that the Jews “not be as sheep that have no shepherd” (Numbers 27:17). God responds by telling Moses to appoint Joshua.

Why does the Torah mention Aharon when introducing Pinchas (Bamidbar 25:10)? The usual way of naming a person is “so and so, the son of so and so,” not the grandson of so and so. In taking the law ...

Moses Views the Land of Israel. Woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld from the 1860 “Bible in Pictures.” Each week The Arty Semite connects the Torah reading — however tenuously — with a classic ...