A Festive Song with an Unclear Message: Uncovering the Meaning of Maoz Tzur

Yaakov Jaffe delves into two possible themes of the song Maoz Tzur.

Bedecked in Splendor

In this essay, Weinberg reflects on the symbolic significance of tefillin and its message for our Jewish future.

Streamlining Services: What Can we Learn from High Holidays 5781?

Many synagogue goers found the abbreviated High Holiday services we recently concluded quite appealing. Need we eventually go back to the way it was before coronavirus? Not really, argues Moshe Kurtz, surveying the substantial halakhic support for shortening the services every year.

The Parenthetical Problem of Alenu

Zev Eleff on a perennially interesting portion of the liturgy.

Prayer in an Age of Distraction

Zachary Truboff considers the experience of prayer, and what two recent publications on Tefillah emerging from the Religious Zionist community contribute.

Hendiadys in the Pre-Shofar Acrostic Prayer: An Introduction to an Overlooked Principle of Biblical...

In unpacking the meaning of a tricky verse from Eikhah that we say as part of the Shofar service on Rosh Hashanah, Mitchell First introduces us to the literary principle called hendiadys, which can help us understand various phrases throughout Tanakh.

Little Women of Valor

Have you seen the latest teen magazine for religious Zionist women? Yoel Finkelman has, and he has some thoughts.

A Journey to the Land of Prayer

An exclusive look into Rav Dov Singer's new English work on prayer, Prepare My Prayer.

Is Reciting Tehillim and Avinu Malkeinu after October 7th Enough?

As we near 150 days since the murderous attack by Hamas, Chaim Trachtman wonders whether continuing to recite Tehillim and Avinu Malkeinu is the best way to keep Israel front-and-center in our prayers.

When Synagogues Reopen, May the Congregation Permit a Bar Mitzvah Boy to Make Up...

When Synagogues Reopen, May the Congregation Permit a Bar Mitzvah Boy to Make Up His Torah Reading? Moshe Kurtz weighs in.