Jewish Thought and History

Yaakov Taubes examines three hypothetical “What if?” books and what they can teach us about history, science, and halakhah.

In honor of the recent release of Moshe Koppel's new Koren/Maggid book, Judaism Straight Up: Why Real Religion Endures, Elli Fischer traces the decades-long trajectory of Koppel's "Torah of the Kishkes" philosophy of Judaism.

Lawrence Kaplan makes a case for Mendelssohn's vision for our time.

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.

Tragic events this past summer brought a wave of protests against racial injustice that shows few signs of abating. Yitzhak Grossman shares how rabbinic leaders in the United States and Israel have historically approached the tactic of protest, and explores what their views might mean for our current moment.

Batya Hefter traces Joseph's character development through the eyes of the Ishbitz-Radzyn masters.

When we boil matters down to their essence, what is the underlying difference between a yeshivish and centrist Orthodox worldview? Tzvi Goldstein argues that it’s not Torah Umada, Zionism, or women’s roles; these are all symptomatic of a deeper debate about this world and the World to Come.

Responding to Tamar Ross’s article from two weeks ago, Steven Gotlib argues for a more traditional understanding of Divine Revelation.

Zach Truboff draws upon the thought of Rav Kook and Rav Shagar to explore the themes of light and darkness and their application to Hanukkah.

Elinatan Kupferberg argues that the boundaries between Torah and Madda have blurred and evolved throughout Jewish intellectual history. This erudite analysis upends our assumptions about Torah u-Madda and breathtakingly reimagines its past, present, and future.