Endless Exploration: Judaism’s Only “Principle of Faith”
Hasdai Crescas criticized Maimonides for counting belief as a Mitzvah, arguing that we have no control over what we believe. Dovid Campbell explores a surprisingly common defense of Maimonides that places his views closer to those of Crescas than we might have initially imagined.
Finding Meaning in Determinism: How Jewish Thinkers Reconcile the Contradiction between Determinism and Human...
Natan Oliff looks at the various ways Jewish thinkers have found meaning in determinism.
When Rambam Met the Izhbitser Rebbe: Response to a Straussian Reading of Hilkhot Teshuvah
Bezalel Naor responds to Bezalel Safran's Straussian reading of the Rambam.
The Christian Monks Who Saved Jewish History
Malka Simkovich hunts for Jewish texts in some unlikely places.
A Kinnah in Kislev: The Enduring Elegy of Dolce of Worms
In honor of the yahrtzeit of Dolce, the wife of Rabbi Eleazar of Worms, Chaya Sima Koenigsberg explores Rabbi Eleazar's moving elegy for his wife and reflects upon Dolce's character as a model for Koenigsberg's own life and the lives of Jewish women today.
The “Judeo-Christian” Tradition at Yeshiva
Yisroel Ben-Porat offers historical, hashkafic, and personal reflections on what’s often called the “Judeo-Christian” tradition and whether a Torah u-Madda outlook can embrace the study of Christianity.
Rabbeinu Bahya and the Case of the Mysterious Medieval Lightning Rod
Did Rabbeinu Bahya mention a lightning rod centuries before it was discovered? Yaakov Taubes takes us on a journey through science, magic, and religion to help explain this medieval commentator’s cryptic comment about the Tower of Babel.
Rabbi Yehudah Ha-Levi’s Love Song on Jewish Self-Identification for the 7th day of Pesah
Yaakov Jaffe explores Yehuda Ha-Levi's Yom Le-Yabasha.
Man is not God: The Limits of Imitatio Dei
David Fried clarifies the concept of imitating God through Rashi's oft-neglected reading of “It is not good for man to be alone”
Revisiting Maimonides’s Merkavah Chapters
In this timely piece, David Fried analyzes Maimonides' explanation of the ma'aseh merkavah in light of the Talmud's strictures on its teaching outlined in Hagigah. Fried's analysis reveals how Maimonides changed course from the Aristotelianism that he posited at other points in his career.