Literary Device

Found 5 Search results

1. The Drought

   Eliyahu's Appearance

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

   With no introduction, Eliyahu – who was apparently an experienced prophet – bursts onto the scene and decrees to Ahav that no rain will fall. It appears that Eliyahu’s decree is on the backdrop of the increase in idol worship in Ahav’s time; however, the text omits the explicit connection. The fragmented introduction and the unexplained decree are part of an intentional literary device calculated to create the sense of mystery and suddenness that characterize Eliyahu.

2. Shmini Atzeret: An Independent Holiday or a Continuation of Sukkot?

   Rabbi Jonathan Snowbell

3. Composition of the Torah according to Tanakh and Jewish Tradition

   Part 2

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   From the description that appears in the Torah itself and in the Books of the Prophets, there is no way of knowing how, when, and by whom the Five Books of the Torah were committed to writing and transmitted to the Jewish People. However, in the later books the picture changes somewhat, and we find explicit mention of the existence of a "Book of the Torah" that is more extensive than just the book of Devarim. This Torah is clearly identified with "God's Torah" in Nehemia, when the Jewish people commits, at the ceremony of the covenant, "to follow God's Torah, which was given by the hand of Moshe, God's servant."

4. The Moral of Yehoshua's Encounter with the Angel

   Dr. Adina Sternberg | Hour and 2 minutes

   What is the deeper messages that emerge from the story of Yehoshua’s encounter with the angel? Through an in-depth exploration of the text and classical commentaries, we gain a deeper understanding of the story, and a greater understanding of Divine promises and reliance on God. We also learn how to analyze Tanakh texts in general by exploring their greater contexts and literary illusions to other Tanakh texts in order to uncover deeper messages. 

5. Ruth and Boaz: Mirror Characters

   Dr. Yael Ziegler

   Ruth’s generosity reverses the downward spiral of the megilla’s narrative and launches its arduous movement toward resolution. Ruth, however, cannot act independently. Everything she ultimately offers Naomi (food, children) is given to her by Boaz, who is also portrayed as a paragon of generosity. If the first critical shift in the book is initiated by Ruth, its final pivot is completed by Boaz. It may be most accurate to conclude that the success of the narrative rests upon the coming together of this couple.

   Ruth and Boaz’s marriage represents the conjoining of two similar personalities, whose traits are ideal for producing both the personal solution for Naomi’s tragedy and the national solution for the self-centered, miserly, and slothful society during the period of the judges. In order to convey the similarity between Boaz and Ruth and highlight the important traits that they share, the Book of Ruth presents several linguistic parallels between these characters.