Letters to the Editor: Shadal, Hazarat Ha-Shatz, and Modern Orthodox Outreach
Today, we share letters to the editor by Ephraim Chamiel, Steven Gotlib, and Moshe Kurtz.
Is Modern Orthodox Kiruv Possible?
Steven Gotlib explores Modern Orthodoxy’s strengths and weaknesses with regard to Kiruv.
How the Student Poland Experience Has Changed
The Poland trip has become de rigueur for Modern Orthodox gap-year students. But seismic changes in contemporary Poland and shifting trends in Modern Orthodoxy mean that the content and meaning of these trips are different than they used to be. David I. Bernstein, who has been leading Poland trips since 1992, tells the story of the student Poland experience, then and now.
What Can We Learn From Louis Jacobs?
Louis Jacobs, the controversial British rabbi and theologian, died 15 years ago. Steven Gotlib reviews Harry Freedman’s new book on Jacobs’ life, and considers how what happened to Jacobs should inform the way we draw the boundaries of Orthodoxy today.
Shared Leadership: A Response to Ezra Schwartz and Nathaniel Helfgot
In response to recent articles by Ezra Schwartz and Nathaniel Helfgot on the issue of centralization, Jeffrey Fox offers a vision of collaborative, personalized pesak in the post-Covid era.
Taking Responsibility For Halakhic Guidance: A Response to Ezra Schwartz
In this response to last week’s article by Ezra Schwartz, Nathaniel Helfgot wonders whether the new pandemic-fueled trend toward centralized halakhic decision-making overburdens the most learned rabbis and takes too much autonomy from the others.
Decentralization and Centralization: A COVID Tale of the Modern Orthodox Community
As the Covid-19 pandemic looks like it might be subsiding, Ezra Schwartz, a Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University, incisively examines competing trends toward decentralization of synagogue life and centralization of halakhic decision-making that are reshaping the Modern Orthodox world.
Celebration and Exploration: Why Good Israel Education Needs Both
In this timely essay, Noam Weissman of OpenDor Media argues for a form of Israel education that tackles challenging topics in Israel’s history.
Modern Orthodox Jews Should Be Trailblazers in Holocaust Education
As we commemorate Yom HaShoah, Shay Pilnik urges us to add a Modern Orthodox voice to a discourse increasingly dominated by secular perspectives.
Apres Moi: Religious Jews after Trump
What is President Trump’s legacy for Orthodox Jews? Shalom Carmy, taking stock of the past four years, considers religious liberty, Israel policy, and the bitter polarization that dominates American politics