Commentary

Can we learn Torah from Star Wars, superheroes, or the hit Netflix show ‘The Crown’? Olivia Friedman, a teacher at Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago, says yes, arguing that bringing pop culture into the Judaic studies classroom in a meaningful way not only makes learning more fun, but models the type of integration that Modern Orthodoxy stands for.

Alan Jotkowitz explores how frequently overlooked passages in the writings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks can help pave a path forward for us on theological issues in a post-Covid world.

Did the Founding Fathers study Kabbalah? Yisroel Ben-Porat reviews Brian Ogren’s new book Kabbalah and the Founding of America.

Simon Goldhill provides an entertaining and thought-provoking exploration of how Jewish scholars' religious identities impact their work in the field of classics.

The Hasidic work, Aish Kodesh, under the scholarly microscope, by Henry Abramson.

Does the Torah support a universalist or ethnonationalist political orientation? In this timely essay, Ezra Zuckerman Sivan explores the meaning behind key stories in Genesis through the framework of the Aleinu prayer.

Concluding our series on the recent Siyum ha-Shas, Channa Lockshin Bob wonders: What do we want the next Women's Siyum ha-Shas to look like?

The novelty of Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein's teachings on women's Talmud study... explained, by Shlomo Zuckier!

Mali Brofsky argues that often, "Manels" are a product of women's conscious personal decisions. Agree or disagree?

David Stein with a fresh look at the methods and priorities of teaching Talmud in Modern Orthodox day schools.