Modern

What motivated the first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rav Herzog, to work tirelessly on the seemingly quixotic project of running the modern State of Israel on the basis of Halakhah? Reviewing Alexandar Kaye's new book on the subject, Rabbi Shalom Carmy explains.

Lawrence Kaplan makes a case for Mendelssohn's vision for our time.

Zev Eleff explores the enduring legacy of the recently destroyed Beth Hamedrash Hagadol on Norfolk Street.

Levi Morrow reviews four new books that examine and apply the thought of R. Joseph B. Solovetichik of blessed memory. Image: below

Bezalel Naor responds to Bezalel Safran's Straussian reading of the Rambam.

Shlomo Abramovich explores the relationship and tensions between KBY and its founding rosh yeshiva.

Ariel Evan Mayse discusses Neo-Hasidism through the eyes of Abraham Joshua Heschel and Zelda Schneurson Mishkovsky.

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

Peter Berger, Daniel Korobkin argues, offers an important lens to understand Orthodox Judaism, its religious features and institutions.

Tragic events this past summer brought a wave of protests against racial injustice that shows few signs of abating. Yitzhak Grossman shares how rabbinic leaders in the United States and Israel have historically approached the tactic of protest, and explores what their views might mean for our current moment.