Commentary

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.

Tammy Jacobowitz reviews David Forman's latest book, a companion to Sefer Bereishit, and finds engaging, instructive literary analysis that pulls new insights from familiar stories.

Rav Da'vid Sperling, Rosh Beit Midrash at Nishmat and long-time student of Rav Yehuda Herzl Henkin Ztz"l, shares his eulogy from the funeral of his Rav.

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.

In honor of the recent release of Moshe Koppel's new Koren/Maggid book, Judaism Straight Up: Why Real Religion Endures, Elli Fischer traces the decades-long trajectory of Koppel's "Torah of the Kishkes" philosophy of Judaism.

In this thought-provoking piece, Aharon Frazer traces the approach to power and privilege in the Torah from Genesis through Deuteronomy, and offers a framework for the ethical use of power in our own times.

Over the course of decades, Rabbi Lenny Matanky of Congregation KINS and Ida Crown in suburban Chicago worked very closely with Rav Gedalia Dov Schwartz on countless sensitive communal matters. Rabbi Matanky shares the eulogy he delivered this past Thursday for his great mentor.

What changed when Rabbi Sacks retired from the Chief Rabbinate and came to America? In advance of Rabbi Sacks’ sheloshim, British native Joe Wolfson, JLIC rabbi at NYU, recalls a more relaxed and accessible Rabbi Sacks in his post-Chief Rabbinate years.

Ben Rothke reviews Harold Gans's new book The Cosmic Puzzle: A Scientific Investigation into the Existence of God, asking the question: Is the proof of God best left to the scientific method?

In honor of yesterday's Daf Yomi Siyum on Masekhet Eiruvin, Yaakov Jaffe describes how online maps and other technological tools have better enabled communities such as Boston/Cambridge to measure their tehum shabbat.