Jewish Thought and History

What sort of powers did Hazal have in the first century? Ari Lamm wonders.

Ezra Sivan probes the Sabbath and the Torah's call to love God.

Historian Malka Simkovich explores ancient diasporic responses to collective trauma and what they can tell us about our responses to the aftermath of October 7th.

Warren Zev Harvey reflects on the pain and fear of Israel’s current moment, finding unexpected hope in R. Joseph Kaspi’s anti-deterministic theory of history. The essay was originally published in Hebrew and translated by the author.

Ari Lamm explores a recent instance of talmudic censorship, as well as its implications for thinking about Jewish-Christian relations and American society at large.

Shlomo Riskin remembers how Yeshiva University's late Professor Louis Feldman helped him make the greatest decision of his life.

Leah Sarna addresses the perceived disconnect between the ideal Torah U-Madda lifestyle and the gendered reality of advanced Torah study for women.

David Fried reviews The Golden Path: Maimonides Across Eight Centuries, the companion volume to the Yeshiva University Museum’s exhibit on Maimonides.

Did the Founding Fathers study Kabbalah? Yisroel Ben-Porat reviews Brian Ogren’s new book Kabbalah and the Founding of America.

Zev Eleff examines some of the toys peddled around by mitzvah merchants and other fascinating features of Ultra-Orthodox culture.