Articles by Gilad Barach

Brother, Not Other: Rambam’s Loving Embrace of Converts

It may sound surprising to the contemporary Jew, but classical Jewish sources do not unanimously favor converts.  This unsympathetic attitude present in some texts even goes beyond the three initial rebuffs in the conversion process;[i] even after the full halakhic conversion is complete, much ... Read more →

Nakh: The Neglected Nineteen

1 Why learn Nakh?2 It is a foolish question, really. Virtually all Torah Jews agree that learning Nakh constitutes talmud Torah, and it should therefore follow that a Jew’s familiarity with all twenty-four books of Tanakh is not only proper and appropriate, but mandated and expected. ... Read more →