Jewish Thought and History

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

  Zach Truboff In 1933, as the month of Elul approached, the Jewish people faced a frightening array of dangers. That year, Hitler consolidated power as...

Rashi’s commentary to Eruvin contains many explanatory diagrams. In anticipation of the Daf Yomi cycle’s study of the tractate beginning tomorrow, Eli Genauer shares some manuscripts that shed light on whether Rashi drew these pictures.

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

Tzvi Sinensky explores the Talmudic version of the Roman myth of Narcissus

Malka Simkovich hunts for Jewish texts in some unlikely places.

Yiscah Smith explores the conceptions of teshuvah presented in the writings of the Piaseczner Rebbe and the Ba’al Ha-Tanya, identifying in them a novel approach to personal growth that speaks to contemporary Jews.

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.

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.

Eli Rubin reflects on the meaning of revelation, innovation, and history at the giving of the Torah.