Commentary

Shumel Hain discusses how we can bridge the "Tragic Gap" between the world envisioned in the blessing on budding fruit tress and our current reality of pandemic and tragedy

Zackary Sholem Berger Reviews Rabbi Jason Weiner's Jewish Guide to Practical Medical Decision Making.

The father heard the voice of God, Elli Fischer explains, but the son ends up with the blade on his neck.

This siddur, Yaakov Jaffe argues, is where to look to find out what Orthodox Jews believe.

David Selis and Zvi Erenyi share their memories of JTS Librarian Professor Menahem Schmelzer for his sheloshim.

Sarah Rudolph responds to Zev Eleff's article on "Digital Democratization".

Daniel A. Klein reviews a new book on Hebrew by Mitchell First.

In her winning Ateret Zvi essay, Leah Sarna explores two simultaneously true stories about pregnancy: it is at once a beautiful, incredible miracle, and also a demanding journey, both physically and mentally, that often feels more like a catastrophe. Studying the Torah's accounts of pregnancy in Tazria and Rivkah's life, Sarna offers a moving analysis of what it means to hear, tell, and live these stories.

Yaakov Jaffe examines Yehudah Ha-Levi's High Holiday poem "Yashen, Al Teradam"

Ezra Schwartz uses artificial intelligence and a famous story about gizzards as a prism to discuss the role of the rabbi in the modern age.