Torah Personalities

What changed when Rabbi Sacks retired from the Chief Rabbinate and came to America? In advance of Rabbi Sacks’ sheloshim, British native Joe Wolfson, JLIC rabbi at NYU, recalls a more relaxed and accessible Rabbi Sacks in his post-Chief Rabbinate years.

Zvi Romm, a Rav on the Lower East Side for the last eighteen years, shares insights into the unexpected and remarkably democratic personality of the Rosh Yeshiva.

At the Orthodox Union in 1997, Rabbi Sacks first developed the theme that there are 2 Torot: Torat Kohanim and Torat Nevi'im. Nathan Diament shares from that talk, interwoven with personal reflections on Rabbi Sacks' optimism and his insightful use of Jewish jokes.

There’s a miniature kaf at the beginning of the parashah. As Gabriel Slamovits explains, what the diminished letter says about how Abraham mourned for Sarah fits well with a prominent teaching of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, zt”l.

There has been an outpouring of appreciation for Rabbi Sacks' mentorship and role modeling for the younger generation of British Jewish thinkers and rising leaders. One such mentee, Sam Lebens, shares personal and theological perspectives on the passing of the rebbe for whom he tore keria just a few days ago.

Baruch Sterman, founder of the @Ptil Tekhelet Institute, tells the story of Rav Rabinovitch's pivotal role in the discovery of the tekhelet - and an episode of "The Worst Jobs in History," a 2004-2006 BBC series.

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.

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

What led Rav Steinsaltz to inaugurate a yeshiva in the Soviet House of Sciences on February 22, 1989? In honor of R. Steinzlatz's sheloshim, Yehiel Poupko, a first-hand witness, offers a glimpse into the inner world of his mentor.

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