Jewish Thought and History

Elana Stein Hain explores how the frameworks offered by the humanities can mesh with our Torah-driven lives.

In the next installment of our Torah u-Madda symposium, Dr. Erica Brown reflects on the concepts and values expressed by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks zt"l in his discussions on the integration of Torah and secular life.

Jennie Rosenfeld reviews David Bashevkin's "Sin-a-gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought."

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.

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

Natan Oliff looks at the various ways Jewish thinkers have found meaning in determinism.

Alan Kadish offers a vision for how Orthodox Jews should think about "chosenness."

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.

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.

Malka Simkovich hunts for Jewish texts in some unlikely places.