Jewish Thought and History

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.

In this thoughtful essay, Cypess reflects on the melody that is carrying Israel in the wake of October 7th.

In this essay, Weinberg reflects on the symbolic significance of tefillin and its message for our Jewish future.

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.

Alan Jotkowitz reviews the latest volume of Dr. Haym Soloveitchik’s collected essays, bringing us back to the world of medieval Ashkenaz.

Moshe Kurtz regales us with his love of science fiction & fantasy, suggesting that the genre’s literature, movies, and games can teach Torah lessons in ethics and morality, but cautioning that Torah u-Madda ought not to become Torah u-Movies.

The Hasidic work, Aish Kodesh, under the scholarly microscope, by Henry Abramson.

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.

Mitchell First reviews Yehuda Landy's Purim and the Persian Empire.

Yisrael Kashkin and Jeffrey Saks provide a timeline for the Rav's American arrival.