Commentary

Rabbi Leonard Matanky reflects on Rabbi Saul Berman's account of the Rav's 1977 Stern College Talmud shiur and Orthodox Judaism's & slippery slope complex.

Ross Weissman offers a stirring poem on hope during the trying times of coronavirus.

Aton Holzer offers a novel interpretation of Isaiah 53 based on current events in Israel.

Ari Lamm on the Bat Kol in rabbinic literature and its implications for Orthodox discourse

In response to Sruli Besser's recent Mishpacha article, Sarah Rudolph suggests that his position was at odds with Judaism's midrashic tradition.

How do Moses Mendelssohn and Revelation jibe? Judah Kerbel offers some perspective.

In advance of Tisha Be-Av, Tzvi Novick annotates and interprets the kinnah of a’adeh ad hug shamayim by the master poet R. Eleazar ha-Kalir, unlocking its complex acrostic to determine who its speaker is meant to be.

Fix the Israeli Rabbinate, says Elli Fischer, but first identify the problem.

Our traditional longing for the rebuilding of the Beit Ha-Mikdash elides uncomfortable questions about the dramatic differences between sacrificial worship and our current models of serving God. Meir Kraus argues that the time has come to engage in this difficult conversation, especially in light of the growing religious-political movement to restore Jewish presence on the Temple Mount. Kraus also proposes an “alternative vision” for a future Temple era.

Dan Ornstein examines the rabbinic interpretation of the phrase "ba-asher hu sham," and applies it to the current conflict in Israel.