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.

As this election season draws to a close at last, Zev Eleff crunches the numbers on the Modern Orthodox vote—a demographic whose politics are not so easy to pin down.

How did major segments of Orthodoxy come to devalue the importance of community-wide health? David Werdiger of Australia considers this and more in this insightful exploration of Orthodox responses to COVID.

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.

In a widely-circulated article published in City Journal, Moshe Krakowski objected to the work of YAFFED, an organization that works with government officials to require higher standards of secular education in Hasidic schools. Here, Hannah Lebovits and Yoel Finkelman respond passionately to a number of Dr. Krakowski's contentions.

As we begin to read Sefer Shemot, Yosef Lindell explores Koren Publishers' new series, The Tanakh of the Land of Israel, the first volume to use Rabbi Sacks’ Humash translation.

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.