Commentary

In advance of Shavuot, Stuart Halpern reviews Reading Ruth, a succinct but poignant new literary commentary on the Book of Ruth, by Leon Kass and his granddaughter Hannah Mandelbaum.

Eileen Watts puts the writings of Bernard Malamud in conversation with today's immigrant debate.

Steven Gotlib reviews Eugene Korn’s To Be a Holy People: Jewish Tradition and Ethical Values, a book which asks hard questions about whether Halakhah can integrate with the demands of contemporary ethics.

Sarah Rindner asks what the Book of Leviticus, Leonard Cohen and the Liberty Bell all have in common.

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

How did daf yomi evolve from a yeshiva-centered program to one focused on the working Jew? Zev Eleff offers a historical overview of the daf yomi revolution.

Pressed for time, people often skip reciting the korbanot section of the morning prayers. With the High Holidays approaching, Judah Kerbel makes the case that the korbanot are far more central and halakhically significant to our prayers than we often realize.

Malka Simkovich on the Hasmonean victories and the truth behind the Hanukkah miracle.

So many of the most exciting developments in Jewish thought, explains Ariel Rackovsky, are occurring in Israel. Are American Jews sufficiently aware of them?

The zogerke or firzogerin, once the vernacular translator in the women’s section of the synagogue, has faded into distant memory. Dalia Wolfson reimagines her for our times.