Culture

In this thoughtful essay, Cypess reflects on the melody that is carrying Israel in the wake of October 7th.

A growing list of dati le’umi leaders and thinkers frame war as a desirable state and even an opportunity for spiritual elevation. Religious Israeli activist Ariel Shwartz traces this trend with alarm and argues that it contradicts deep-rooted Torah values. Translated by Mordechai Blau.

In this mini-collection of poems, November reflects on the presence of God in the universe.

In an original Hebrew poem, Shoshanah Haberman addresses the crisis in Israel and Gaza, mourns the dead, and prays for the future.

Natalie Zemon Davis, a Jewish historian known for shining a light on the lives of marginalized people in the early modern period, passed away in October. Ronnie Perelis commemorates Dr. Zemon Davis by reflecting on the experience of teaching her revolutionary work to his students at Stern College for Women.

Gilad Goldberg describes the bewildering experience of reporting for emergency reserve duty on October 7.

This war diary, presented by Susan Weingarten, relates her experience in a kibbutz on the Gazan border on October 7th and the days following her return to Jerusalem after the Hamas massacre.

In this poetic tale from Marina Zilbergerts's recent poetry book You Were Adam (Wipf and Stock), a learned and passionate woman struggles with her yetser hara, nicknamed "Wicked." The yetser is imagined as a fantastic character who accompanies her through Jewish Toronto's banal suburbia. "Wicked '' is a sympathetic and tragic apikores who knows how to get her where it hurts, but he also speaks the truth. He is a careful social observer present with her at all times. From going on weekly shopping trips, being in shul, to more intimate moments, this demonic character becomes her unlikely friend. In an ironic twist, the lessons taught to her by her yetser help her embark on the path of repentance.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, published here are excerpts from letters of an American student studying in Israel in 1973. These letters, written during and immediately after the war, shed light on Yeshivat Har Etzion in its formative years and the lasting impact of the Yom Kippur War.

In this pair of poems, Dovid Campbell imagines the unspoken words that arise from scenes in Aggada