Questioning Belief and Belief in Questions
Steven Gotlib reviews Raphael Zarum’s Questioning Belief: Torah and Tradition in an Age of Doubt.
A World Worth Knowing: Jewish Education’s Crisis of Curiosity
Dovid Campbell explores sources indicating that curiosity is a Jewish value.
The End of Contradiction: Resolving the Mysteries of The Guide to the Perplexed
Josh Frankel reviews Lenn Goodman’s new work of commentary on Moreh Nevukhim, which brings Rambam’s work to life for careful, contemporary readers.
Letters to the Editor: Tzvi Goldstein Responds
Tzvi Goldstein responds to letters from Chaim Goldberg and Yaakov Resnik on his piece on the differences between Centrist and Haredi Orthodoxy, unpacking the view of Rav Hayyim Volozhin’s Nefesh Ha-Hayyim.
Aspects of My Father’s Philosophy of Jewish History
This essay by Aaron Zeitlin—originally published in Yiddish in 1967 and translated here into English by Daniel Kraft—explores Aaron’s father Hillel Zeitlin’s approach to anti-semitism by way of the Book of Jonah.
Judaism is About Two Kinds of Love
Warren Zev Harvey
Review of Shai Held, Judaism is About Love: Recovering the Heart of Jewish Life (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024). Originally...
Judaism and Christianity: A Star-Crossed Affair?
Steven Gotlib reviews Eugene Korn’s book on the future of Jewish-Christian relations.
Letters To The Editor: A Further Response To Tzvi Goldstein On Centrist Orthodoxy And...
Tzvi Goldstein's recent piece on Centrist and Haredi Orthodoxy has generated many responses from our readers. Today we share a response from Chaim Goldberg, who vigorously argues that the greatest pillar for contemporary Haredi ideology is not Ramhal's Mesilat Yesharim but Rav Hayyim Volozhin's Nefesh Ha-Hayyim.
Is Liberal Zionism Dead?
Steven Gotlib reviews Shaul Magid’s new, provocative book about a contemplated “counter-Zionist” future for Israel.
Separation of Powers and Majority Rule: Insights from the Talmud, Maimonides, Spinoza, and Mendelssohn
This article was written and accepted for publication in the summer of 5783/2023 and scheduled to appear after the holidays. Because of the outbreak of Israel’s “Iron Swords” war with Ḥamas following the murderous attack on Israel on Shabbat/Simḥat Torah (7 October, 2023), we agreed that publication needed to be postponed. Now, five months into the war with no end in sight, we are nevertheless witness to renewed political tensions, public demonstrations, disagreements and paralysis in appointing judges and the President of the Supreme Court, together with resumption of talk of the “judicial reform.”
Despite the continuing tragedy of the war in the south and warfare in the north, a review of how our sources treat the separation of powers and majority rule may help us avoid repeating some of the mistakes of the pre-war political and ideological divisions in Israel and contribute to a more reasoned consideration of the issues.