Shavuot: The Wakeup Call
Batya Hefter explores a Hasidic understanding of “Sinai consciousness” and proposes a way to re-experience it on Shavuot.
The Directional Shaking of the Lulav: Bible, Mysticism, and Religious Polemics
Yaakov Jaffe traces the origins and evolution of the custom to shake the lulav in different directions.
Surrender or Struggle? The Akeidah Reconsidered
Herzl Hefter provides critical perspective on a stream of Akeidah interpretation from Kierkegaard to the Rav
Written and Sealed (and Stamped) in the Book of Life
We will all be much more distant from each other this Rosh Hashanah. That’s why, argues Ranana Dine, it’s time to revive the tradition of sending physical greeting cards.
On Subjectivity and Pluralism: Sparks of Rav Shagar’s Thought
Udi Dvorkin offers a plea to take Rav Shagar at his full value, which means reading him in the original Hebrew.
The Dark Side of Torah u-Madda: Chaim Potok and Core-to-Core Cultural Confrontation
The debate about Torah u-Madda and pop culture continues. Noah Marlowe argues that Chaim Potok's literature offers a useful conceptual framework for, and embodiment of, a profound confrontation between Judaism and elite elements of general culture.
Jewish Theology For a Neo-Traditional Age
Steven Gotlib reviews Yehuda (Jerome) Gellman’s book on neo-traditional Jewish theology.
Rabbi Norman Lamm and His Crusade for the Jewish Home
Zev Eleff explores how the Jewish family anchored Rabbi Norman Lamm's sermons and thought during the destabilizing 1960s.
The Soul of Man Under Postmodernism: Further comments on Rav Shagar’s contribution
Shalom Carmy
The last couple of weeks have brought two worthwhile assessments of Rav Shagar’s Faith Shattered and Restored: Judaism in the Postmodern Age, Matt Lubin’s...
Questioning Belief and Belief in Questions
Steven Gotlib reviews Raphael Zarum’s Questioning Belief: Torah and Tradition in an Age of Doubt.
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