Jewish Theology For a Neo-Traditional Age

Steven Gotlib reviews Yehuda (Jerome) Gellman’s book on neo-traditional Jewish theology.

Why Pandemics Happen to Good People

What theological language can we use to describe our current pandemic moment? In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, Jeremy Brown takes scope of the ancient and modern notions of plague theodicy and reviews some ideas from the 2021 National Jewish Book Award Winner Torah in a Time of Plague.

The Philosopher and the Mystic?

David Fried reviews Diana Lobel's Moses and Abraham Maimonides: Encountering the Divine, which argues that the categorization of Moses Maimonides as an Aristotelian philosopher and his son Abraham as a Sufi mystic is an oversimplification.

A “What If” Review: Hypothetical History, Science, and Halakhah

Yaakov Taubes examines three hypothetical “What if?” books and what they can teach us about history, science, and halakhah.
Rak Shnenu

Unhappy Families: Elhanan Nir’s Rak Shnenu

The Agnon scholar, Jeffrey Saks, sees some Agnonian work in modern Israeli literature.

Gleaning the Wisdom of Ruth

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.

“Of Persons and Peoples” – A Review of Gleanings: Reflections on Ruth

David Bashevkin reviews Gleanings: Reflections on Ruth.

Animating the Dialogue – A Review of Yeshiva Days: Learning on the Lower East...

Sima Fried reviews Jonathan Boyarin’s Yeshiva Days, illuminating the challenges of examining a community as both an insider and an outsider.

“Doctor, I Need My Rabbi”: How can Halakhah be Practical in Medical Ethics?

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

A New Book Brings Hebrew Language and Liturgy to Life

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