Cantillation: Some Observations – Part 2
In Part II of his series on trop, William Gewirtz explains the principle of recursion and how it helps us interpret texts.
Kohelet as Intertext
Theodicy, faith, and the meaning of life. Who got it right - Kohelet or our Yamim Noraim liturgy? Elana Stein Hain explores!
Prayerful Poetry: A Translators’ Battle that Spanned the Atlantic
Yosef Lindell recounts the controversy surrounding different attempts at translating the Tishrei prayers.
A New Book Brings Hebrew Language and Liturgy to Life
Daniel A. Klein reviews a new book on Hebrew by Mitchell First.
Wake Up Sleeping One! Yehudah Ha-Levi’s Dramatic Use of Genre and Narrative Voice in...
Yaakov Jaffe examines Yehudah Ha-Levi's High Holiday poem "Yashen, Al Teradam"
Should the Davening of the Tenth of Tevet Take Sides in a Talmudic Debate?
Several reasons are given in our tradition about the reason for the fast on the Tenth of Tevet. The liturgy for the day takes a stand on what the true reasons are, but Yaakov Jaffe questions whether this stand is the right one.
Beyond the Walls of the Synagogue: Prayer as a Virtue
With lyrical prose, Natan Oliff teaches us how to view prayer as a virtue and let it enter every aspect of our lives, making us into prayerful people.
Praying for Governments We Dislike?
Historian Jonathan Sarna places a recent decision by an Orthodox synagogue to modify the "prayer for the government" into sharp historical focus.
Ve-Atah Banim Shiru La-Melekh – People Over Angels on Shavuot
What can a medieval piyut (and famous modern chassidic tune) teach us about people's superiority over angels? Yitzchak Szyf explores how our Shavuot liturgy proclaims man's partnership with God in Torah.
Shomron Kol Titein: Let the Silent Sisters Speak and be Consoled
Yosef Lindell examines why Shomron Kol Titein is a fitting conclusion to the daytime kinnot on Tisha Be-Av.
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