The first ethnic joke in the Bible is in chapter 25 of Genesis. Rebekah gives birth to twins, and the first comes out red and hairy all over, so she and Isaac name him Esau. They name him “Hairy.” ...

The earliest midrashic commentaries on the story of Jacob and Esau portray Esau as thoroughly wicked. Since Jacob does not seem to emerge from the deception of his father with much credit, the ...

But Mom had an escape plan (as all crafty moms do.) She informed Jacob that he was to live with her brother Laban in Haran — sparing Jacob’s life from his brother’s wrath. But Rebekah gave Issac a ...

Sometimes Torah simply refuses to give us the straight dope. Were man and woman created simultaneously from God’s command (Genesis 1:26-27)? Or did God sculpt Adam out of clay (Genesis 2:7) and then ...

When famed Russian director Pavel Lungin first read Esau, the 1994 novel by celebrated Israeli author Meir Shalev, its unexpected familiarity struck him. As Pavel explains, it is a “novel speaking ...