Judaism and Politics

Fix the Israeli Rabbinate, says Elli Fischer, but first identify the problem.

Yosef Blau, Senior Mashgiah Ruhani at Yeshiva University, wonders about the direction of Religious Zionism after October 7 and considers the role of Modern Orthodoxy outside of Israel.

Politics from the Pulpit Redux: Don Seeman builds on Jason Herman.

R. Shimshon Nadel explores the connection between the Hasmonean dynasty and the modern-day State of Israel.

Wendy Zierler interprets a 2015 poem by the late Haim Gouri, reflecting on the challenges of aging, and on the complex and often mournful relationship between the Jewish people, their history, and their literature.

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.

This article was written and accepted for publication in the summer of 5783/2023 and scheduled to appear after the holidays. Because of the outbreak of Israel’s “Iron Swords” war with Ḥamas following the murderous attack on Israel on Shabbat/Simḥat Torah (7 October, 2023), we agreed that publication needed to be postponed. Now, five months into the war with no end in sight, we are nevertheless witness to renewed political tensions, public demonstrations, disagreements and paralysis in appointing judges and the President of the Supreme Court, together with resumption of talk of the “judicial reform.” Despite the continuing tragedy of the war in the south and warfare in the north, a review of how our sources treat the separation of powers and majority rule may help us avoid repeating some of the mistakes of the pre-war political and ideological divisions in Israel and contribute to a more reasoned consideration of the issues.

Why do Orthodox Jews vote the way they do? Zev Eleff builds a case, using some unconventional data. 

This war diary, presented by Susan Weingarten, relates her experience in a kibbutz on the Gazan border on October 7th and the days following her return to Jerusalem after the Hamas massacre.

Elli Fischer reads one of Rashi's most famous comments against the grain.