Holidays

Yaakov Jaffe examines different views on which of Ruth's attributes first sparked Boaz's attention, and explores what that means about how we define a Jewish hero.

In this essay, Yehoshua November presents a model for preparing for the High Holidays

Aton Holzer offers a novel re-reading of the Seder, arguing that it reflects and recreates four types of liberty that can be found in the Exodus narrative, as well as a fifth form of freedom.

Aton Holzer explores the inscrutability of the Mitzvah of Shofar.

Rosh Hashanah is a day dedicated to reflecting on our relationships with all humanity. If so, Ari Perl contends, we confront the fact that for all the extraordinary work in the Orthodox community in regard to organ donation, there is one area where we have fallen short.

Mois Navon explores what makes Hanukkah so special.

Judah Kerbel discusses why we say an abbreviated Hallel on the last six days of Pesah and contemplates what that says about the war in Israel; self-defense is a must, as is gratitude toward God, but we also hold space for the losses on the other side.

Ezra Sivan follows up last year's piece about how the Exodus leveled social boundaries with an article about what the Pesah story teaches us about social distancing today.

Peninah Taragin Gershman I once made a Holocaust joke. It was not intentional, and it was not planned, but I said it, and it landed...

Man’s actions—even those that seem fleeting and insignificant—can have an impact, positive or negative. Oren Oppenheim explores themes of u-Netaneh Tokef