Should American Orthodox Jews Have Fasted on July 12, 2024?

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

Malbim’s Paean to (Ben Azzai’s) Kantian Ethics

Francis Nataf explores Malbim’s sophisticated engagement with Kantian ethics.
Orthodox Survey

Everything You Wanted to Know About Surveying the Orthodox Community—And Why the Recent Research...

In response to Matt William's critique, Nishma's Mark Trencher defends his method and points to the challenges of surveying Modern Orthodox Jews.

What’s Missing In “The View From Pew”

Responding to results from the recent Pew survey, Hillel David Rapp argues that we can limit Orthodox attrition by addressing the bifurcation of Jewish and general learning in high school.
Rabbi Lamm

Creation in a Chaotic Decade: Rabbi Lamm in the 60s

Lawrence Kobrin recalls Rabbi Norman Lamm's 1960s emergence as a pivotal Orthodox rabbi in Manhattan and Jewish intellectual.
Norman Lamm

Rabbi Norman Lamm and His Crusade for the Jewish Home

Zev Eleff explores how the Jewish family anchored Rabbi Norman Lamm's sermons and thought during the destabilizing 1960s.

Serpentine Psychology and Booming Babel

Shalom Carmy argues why Torah u-Madda is more relevant now than it ever was.

The Dark Side of Torah u-Madda: Chaim Potok and Core-to-Core Cultural Confrontation

The debate about Torah u-Madda and pop culture continues. Noah Marlowe argues that Chaim Potok's literature offers a useful conceptual framework for, and embodiment of, a profound confrontation between Judaism and elite elements of general culture.

“You’ve Always Had the Power”: On Women and Wizards and Rabbis (Oh My!)

Sarah Rindner draws on L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz, and what the classic story says about the role of women in Orthodox Judaism.

The Modern Orthodox Women’s Agenda, the Eighties, and Bottom-Up Opposition

Zev Eleff tells the story of "Orthodox women's issues" in the 1980s and its impact on today's religious scene.