Dr Angela Erisman shares why the Exodus story serves as an allegory for King Hezekiah of the 8th Century in Judah.

Dr Erisman is owner of Angela Roskop Erisman Editorial and was the founding editorial director of the Marginalia Review of Books. She earned her M.A. in Hebrew and Northwest Semitics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Ph.D. in Bible and Ancient Near East at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She is the author of The Wilderness Itineraries: Genre, Geography, and the Growth of Torah (2011), for which she won a Manfred Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise in 2014. Her most recent book, The Wilderness Narratives in the Hebrew Bible: Religion, Politics, and Biblical Interpretation (2025) is available from Cambridge University Press.

Rabbi Nevins is dedicated to exploring the sacred realm of Torah and its intersection with contemporary ethics, culture, and technology. Ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He became Head of School of Golda Och Academy in 2021, dedicating himself to support the faculty and students in the creation of an outstanding and warm Jewish learning environment. Previously, he worked at The Jewish Theological Seminary as the Pearl Resnick Dean of the Division of Religious Leadership. He writes responsa on topics of contemporary halakhah, essays, prayers, and Torah commentaries, many of which can be viewed on his website rabbinevins.org. He is due to take up the post of Senior Rabbi at New North London Synagogue, London in the Summer of 2026. His most recent book is Torah and Technology: Circuits, Cells, and the Sacred Path, published by Izzun books.

Rabbi Alex Matthews has been part of the Congregation Ahavas Achim in Newburyport since 2015 and has been serving as its congregational leader since 2019. Rabbi Matthews was ordained at Hebrew College in June 2023. He serves part-time as a staff chaplain at Beverly Hospital. He completed the 18 Doors Rukin Rabbinic Fellowship focused on interfaith engagement, as well as the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies Machloket Matters fellowship, focused on working toward and through constructive disagreement.

Rabbi David Zucker discusses the theological role of dreams in Miketz.

Dr. Rabbi David J. Zucker is an Independent Scholar. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham (UK), and Ordination and an M.A.H.L. from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He publishes regularly (see www.DavidJZucker.org) and his latest book is American Rabbis: Facts and Fiction, Second Edition.

Prof. Jack M. Sasson is the Mary Jane Werthan Professor (Emeritus) of Judaic and biblical Studies at Vanderbilt University as well as Kenan Professor (Emeritus) of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina. He holds a Ph.D. in Mediterranean Studies from Brandeis University. Sasson’s publications include commentaries on the Biblical books of Ruth (1979), Jonah (1991), Judges 1-12 (2014), and Judges 13-21 (forthcoming). His most recent monograph is From the Mari Archives: An Anthology of Old Babylonian Letters (Eisenbrauns, 2015).

Dr George Savran asks whether Esau and Jacob really reconciled.

Dr George Savran taught at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies since 1996, and was director of biblical studies. He received his Ph.D. from Brandeis University and is the author of Telling and Retelling: Quotation in Biblical Narrative (Indiana University Press, 1989) and Encountering the Divine: Theophany in Biblical Narrative (Sheffield University Press, 2005).

Professor Zvi Ben-Dor Benite shares how Jacob's departure from Haran acts as a precursor for the Exodus from Egypt and how the Jacob story foreshadows so much else both in Torah and the development of Judaism itself.

Professor Zvi Ben-Dor Benite is Professor of History, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at NYU. He holds a Ph.D. in history from UCLA. He is the author of The Dao of Muhammad: A Cultural History of Muslims in Late Imperial China and The Ten Lost Tribes: A World History and is working on a new monograph, Crescent China: Islam and the Nation After Empire.

Rabbi Alex Matthews discusses Rivkah's moment of existential and physical crisis.

Rabbi Alex Matthews has been part of the Congregation Ahavas Achim in Newburyport since 2015 and has been serving as its congregational leader since 2019. Rabbi Matthews was ordained at Hebrew College in June 2023. He serves part-time as a staff chaplain at Beverly Hospital. Rabbi Matthews completed the 18 Doors Rukin Rabbinic Fellowship focused on interfaith engagement, as well as the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies Machloket Matters fellowship, focused on working toward and through constructive disagreement.