American Orthodoxy

Tovah Lichtenstein responds to and critiques Zev Eleff's counter-history, "What if Rav Aharon Had Stayed?"

In this letter to the editor, Perry Dane asks further questions about Steve Lipman's essay "An Empty Place at the Jewish Table: Why Are Young Jews Dropping Out?"

So many of the most exciting developments in Jewish thought, explains Ariel Rackovsky, are occurring in Israel. Are American Jews sufficiently aware of them?

Today's letters to the editor rethink the utility of Torah u-Madda in today's world. Noam Stadlan reminds us that all knowledge is God's creation and thus inherently valuable, while Larry Grossman (author of “The Rise and Fall of Torah U’Madda“) argues that Torah u-Madda fails to address the various issues that now confront Modern Orthodoxy.

The dynamic conversation continues with three letters to the editor widening our perspective on Torah u-Madda. Steve Gotlib grapples with the challenges of living Torah u-Madda in the real world; Ezequiel Antebi Sacca adds a Sephardic view from Argentina; and Eugene Korn adds insight to the Jewish view on Christianity.

Ayelet Wenger weaves together the personal, historical and exegetical in advance of reading Sefer Shemot.

Shayna Goldberg contributes to the Lehrhaus Symposium on the recent OU statement regarding female clergy.

Yaakov Bieler details several reasons why Torah u-Madda remains important to our role as Torah Jews and some practical ways we can implement this approach.

Yaakov Jaffe argues that kids would be better served by coming to shul for the beginning of the Shabbat davening rather than the end.

Lawrence Kaplan I read Chaim Saiman’s essay, “The Market for Gedolim: A Tale of Supply and Demand,” with growing excitement and admiration. Saiman’s shift of...