Liturgical Repetition: When Singing Becomes Sacrilegious
With the High Holidays approaching, a time iconic for its songful liturgy, Moshe Kurtz scrutinizes the practice of cantors repeating words during davening.
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.
Theologies of Prayer: Dov Singer and Arthur Green in “Conversation”
Steven Gotlib explores similarities between Rabbis Dov Singer and Arthur Green in their models of prayer and how this model can make prayer meaningful even when experiencing doubts in one’s faith.
How Should a Diverse Urban Congregation Select a Siddur?
David Wolkenfeld ponders his synagogue's next choice in siddur.
Yes, We Needed Another Modern Orthodox Prayer Book: A Review of the RCA Siddur
Yosef Lindell
Introduction and History of the RCA Siddur
If anyone had asked me a year ago whether the Modern Orthodox community in the United States...
When God Appeases Man: Yom Kippur in a Time of Exile
Yom Kippur marks the end of an 11 week period when thematic haftarot about the destruction of the Temple, consolation following its loss, and repentance replace haftarot connected to the weekly Torah reading. What can this grouping teach us about the nature of forgiveness and reconciliation? Hannah Abrams explains.
Yatziv Pitgam: Poetry as Talmud Commentary
How should we understand Yatziv Pitgam, the enigmatic poem recited in the Haftarah for the second day of Shavuot? Tzvi Novick’s close reading reveals it to be a paean to the Torah and those who study it.
What role should young children play in the post-COVID synagogue?
Yaakov Jaffe argues that kids would be better served by coming to shul for the beginning of the Shabbat davening rather than the end.