Torah Personalities

After Professor Yaakov Blidstein's passing on Thursday, Marc Herman recalls his teacher's astonishing blend of scholarly creativity and intellectual humility.

Yitzchak Blau and Michael Broyde respond to recent articles that have driven conversation.

Jonathcan Muskat explores the different ways Rabbi Soloveitchik communicated about Mehitzah.

Elli Fischer's thoughts on visiting the grave of Franz Rosenzweig, founder of the original Lehrhaus

Levi Morrow provides an all-new translation of Rav Elhanan Nir’s “Kavvanot for Rosh Hashanah,” and analyzes how these theological poems speak about our relationship with God and prayer on Rosh Hashanah.

The exhaustive Talmud commentary of Provencal scholar Menachem ben Shlomo Ha-Meiri was largely disregarded by Jewish scholars for centuries. Its revived popularity in the twentieth century presents a puzzle, then, for which multiple explanations have been offered. Michael Broyde considers the approaches advanced by his teacher Dr. Haym Soloveitchik and by others, before proposing his own explanation, focusing on Meiri's unique level of access to and use of Yerushalmi texts.

Shlomo Zuckier's reflection commemorating the passing of Yaakov Elman, ob"m.

Shmuel Greene describes the lessons he learned from his Rebbe, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz ztz"l

Chaim Trachtman contributes to the Lehrhaus Symposium on the recent OU statement regarding female clergy.

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