Rabbi David H. Aaron

Rabbi David H. Aaron received his doctorate from Brandeis University and ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati. He is Professor of Hebrew Bible and History of Interpretation at HUC-JIR, Cincinnati, Ohio. His most recent book is Etched in Stone: The Emergence of the Decalogue (T & T Clark, 2006).

Vayechi

The Transition into History

D'Var Torah By: Rabbi David H. Aaron

December 23, 2014

The concluding parashah of Genesis has two roles: it provides closure through a burial theme, and it creates a bridge to the Exodus story. In Parashat Va-y'chi, Joseph swears to his father, Jacob, that he will deliver Jacob's body to their ancestral burial place, the cave in the field of...

Vayigash

The Joseph Story - Part III: Absolute Exile

D'Var Torah By: Rabbi David H. Aaron

December 22, 2014

The most intractable theological conundrum of all monotheistic religions is the question of how God is manifest in history. Oftentimes the whole issue of divine involvement in historical events is distilled to the problem of evil and undeserved suffering-what is frequently labeled the problem of"theodicy."The issue can be framed simply...

Mikeitz

The Joseph Story - Part II: Fantasy, Jewish Style

D'Var Torah By: Rabbi David H. Aaron

December 9, 2014

Surely the most fanciful aspect of the entire Joseph story is the status achieved by Joseph in the administration of the Egyptian monarchy. Upon interpreting a dream as predictive of a national disaster, Pharaoh ascribes to Joseph the "spirit of God" (Genesis 41:38) and straightaway places him in charge of...

Vayeishev

The Joseph Story-Part I: Lost Literature

D'Var Torah By: Rabbi David H. Aaron

December 4, 2014

Introduction to the Joseph Story Four parashiyot, or weekly readings, cover the Joseph story, the longest single narrative in the Book of Genesis. The essays of the next four weeks will treat general literary and ideological issues that are prominent in the Joseph story itself, while also bringing closure to...

Vayishlach

A People by Any Other Name

D'Var Torah By: Rabbi David H. Aaron

November 21, 2014

Toward the end of my comments on Parashat Vayeitzei, I noted that the collator of the Genesis stories had before him a real challenge. How could he take this cluster of ancestral legends about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and end up with a people called Yisrael? In Parashat Vayishlach this...