Prayerful Poetry: A Translators’ Battle that Spanned the Atlantic

Yosef Lindell recounts the controversy surrounding different attempts at translating the Tishrei prayers.

The Festival of Gathering: A Return to the Original Being

Aton Holzer offers an existential perspective on the transition from Yom Kippur to Sukkot and applies some Heideggerian concepts to the festival of gathering.

The Directional Shaking of the Lulav: Bible, Mysticism, and Religious Polemics

Yaakov Jaffe traces the origins and evolution of the custom to shake the lulav in different directions.

Do Children Belong in Shul?

Moshe Kurtz explores halakhic and hashkafic considerations surrounding bringing young children to shul.

Outside Help in the Teshuvah Process

With Hoshanah Rabbah today and the theme of repentance in mind, Jack Cohen explores the role that outsiders play in one's teshuva process through an enigmatic midrash instructing one to return a person to themselves.

Stay One More Day

Daniel Goldberg examines how four versions of a Midrash about Shemini Atzeret reflect different aspects of the Jewish people's relationship with God.

Wisdom and Human Pretention: The Riddle of Shlomo and its Resolution

Special for Sukkot, we are honored to publish this piece by Rav Nahum Rabinovitch zz"l, appearing first the first time in print. Special thanks to Elli Fischer for translating and Koren for permission to publish.

Climate Change and Prayers for Rain and Dew

By examining the prayers for rain and dew through the lens of meteorology and Rabbi Soloveitchik’s Lonely Man of Faith, Chaim Trachtman presents a unique religious model for thinking about climate change.

The Inverted Halakhah of Simhat Torah

Chaim Saiman comments on the nature of Simhat Torah.

‘May Memories Rise’- On the Meaning of ‘Ya’aleh ve-Yavo’

Ben Lorber reflects on the meaning of ya'aleh ve-yavo.