Personal Reflections

Moshe Kurtz provides a poignant and vivid tribute to Rav Moshe Tendler, reflecting on their time learning together during the final three years of his life.

Tikva Hecht’s moving elegy for her mother, a lyric essay told in verse and art, reflects on the fragility of life and the final confession we recite in the Yom Kippur Amidah.

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.

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.

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

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

We will all be much more distant from each other this Rosh Hashanah. That’s why, argues Ranana Dine, it’s time to revive the tradition of sending physical greeting cards.

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

Chaim Davis shares reflections based on his family’s (and his) close relationship with Rabbi Steinsaltz.

In commemoration of Rav Amital's tenth Yahrzeit, Joe Wolfson, JLIC Rabbi at NYU, shares how the legacy of Rav Amital inspired his community's humanitarian efforts during the Covid19 pandemic.