Religious Zionism: Beyond Left and Right

With the emerging Kneset leadership bringing together a broad range of political parties, consider Zach Truboff's review of Rav Shagar's writings (in honor of his upcoming yahrtzeit), which argue that Religious Zionist thought must transcend the old binary of Left and Right.

Across the River

In this riveting short story, Leah Cypess retells a medieval Shavuot legend of how a Jewish community was saved from a deadly sorcerer.

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.

Four Reasons to Leverage Pop Culture in the Judaic Studies Classroom 

Can we learn Torah from Star Wars, superheroes, or the hit Netflix show ‘The Crown’? Olivia Friedman, a teacher at Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago, says yes, arguing that bringing pop culture into the Judaic studies classroom in a meaningful way not only makes learning more fun, but models the type of integration that Modern Orthodoxy stands for.

Cities of Crumbling Walls: What The Talmud Can Teach Us About Living Through A...

What can the Talmud teach us about living through a pandemic? Avi Strausberg argues that it teaches us quite a bit about strengthening acts of kindness and solidarity in our communities.

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.

Reflections on Rav Aharon Lichtenstein’s Sixth Yahrtzeit

It has been six years since Rav Aharon Lichtenstein passed away. In reviewing a 2018 collection of essays by Rav Lichtenstein’s students, Alan Jotkowitz reflects on what we have lost and the void that remains.

Modern Orthodox Jews Should Be Trailblazers in Holocaust Education

As we commemorate Yom HaShoah, Shay Pilnik urges us to add a Modern Orthodox voice to a discourse increasingly dominated by secular perspectives.

A Return to the World of Medieval Ashkenaz

Alan Jotkowitz reviews the latest volume of Dr. Haym Soloveitchik’s collected essays, bringing us back to the world of medieval Ashkenaz.

Seinfeld at Your Seder

Esther Lindell reviews “The Haggadah about Nothing,” Rabbi Sam Reinstein’s not-too-serious exploration of how the Haggadah relates to Seinfeld, the ever-popular 90s sitcom.