Culture

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.

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

A poem on parshat Korach by Zohar Atkins

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.

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

Meshulam Gotlieb responds to Shaul Seidler-Feller with his own interpretation of Shas' 2019 political campaign.

Six new poems by Elhanan Nir—published here with English translation and annotation—capture the grief and discontinuity of this moment.

Rebecca Cypess considers the life and work of the Italian Jewish Renaissance composer Salamone Rossi, his rabbinic supporter Leon Modena, and the controversies over 17th century polyphonic music in the synagogue.

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

Shalva Muschel offers some perspective on George Elliot's leading Jews and the newest attempt to gain a fuller appreciation of Daniel Deronda.