Commentary

Steven Gotlib reviews Raphael Zarum’s Questioning Belief: Torah and Tradition in an Age of Doubt.

Ari Elias-Bachrach explores the science behind lab-produced meat and cheese and the possibility of a realistic kosher cheeseburger.

R.A. Alpert argues that the differences between Hamas and the Zealots outweigh the similarities.

Aton Holzer offers a novel interpretation of Isaiah 53 based on current events in Israel.

With a novel reading of Josephus and Gittin, Shana Schwartz proposes that the tragedy of the second hurban and the mystery of subsequent Jewish survival may be understood by reference to the physiological knowledge available in classical antiquity.

David Polsky explores the similarities and differences between Hamas and the Jewish Zealots at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple.

Zvi Grumet suggests that when read in sequence, the kinot of R. Elazar Ha-Kalir—often seen as the ones most difficult to understand—offer a powerful theological narrative from despair to hope.

Yaakov Jaffe and Menachem Butler explore the Halakhot of when fasting is proper and when it’s not.

In this letter to the editor, David E.S. Stein, the project manager and revising translator of the JPS TANAKH: Gender-Sensitive Edition, responds to the review by Martin Lockshin.

Jonathan Ziring explores the innovative nature of different Halakhic rulings permitting violating Shabbat to save non-Jewish lives.