Commentary

Sruly Motzen argues that to ensure that our shuls emerge as strong as possible after the pandemic, first and foremost we must strengthen the relationships between our rabbis and their communities today.

Drawing upon his expertise in Anglo-Jewish history, Benjamin Elton traces the intellectual journey and career of the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks zt"l. As a brilliant young scholar, Rabbi Sacks rose to prominence through the British Chief Rabbinate, but he transcended that role to become a global phenomenon.

Moshe Simon-Shoshan sheds new light on the Rav's approach to pluralism and academic Jewish studies.

COVID-19 will unquestionably have long-term impacts on synagogue life well beyond the duration of the pandemic. But what will change, and how can shul leadership best anticipate those shifts so as to position our synagogues for success in the future? Judah Kerbel, rabbi of the Queens Jewish Center and Ramaz peers through the looking glass.

Zev Eleff and Menachem Butler explore the reception of Moses Mendelssohn in American Orthodox Judaism, focusing on a curious commotion surrounding the bicentennial of Mendelssohn's death

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.

Continuing the conversation, Dr. Miriam Feldmann-Kaye introduces postmodernism and responds to some critics of Rav Shagar.

Suzanne Last Stone reviews Chaim Saiman's Halakhah: The Rabbinic Idea of Law.

Tzvi Sinensky contends that the rabbinic and feminist readings of Vashti are not diametrically opposed.

In his first and last foray in this field, Zev Eleff tries his hand at some Modern Orthodox counter-history.