Jewish Thought and History

Meir Ekstein contransts Rav Soloveitchik’s and Rav Lichtenstein’s respective approaches to Teshuva.

David Fried reviews Diana Lobel's Moses and Abraham Maimonides: Encountering the Divine, which argues that the categorization of Moses Maimonides as an Aristotelian philosopher and his son Abraham as a Sufi mystic is an oversimplification.

Yakov Z. Mayer reflects on the life of a remarkable Hasidic academic.

In introducing his embrace of Rav Shagar, Rabbi Dr. Gil Perl details his personal journey of being initially excited, then disappointed with the writings of our...

Just in advance of the shloshim for David Ellenson, the former president of Hebrew Union College, Jonathan D. Sarna pays tribute to a man whose life, work, and friendships spanned the Jewish denominational divide.

Francis Nataf considers the legacy of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch.

In this timely piece, David Fried analyzes Maimonides' explanation of the ma'aseh merkavah in light of the Talmud's strictures on its teaching outlined in Hagigah. Fried's analysis reveals how Maimonides changed course from the Aristotelianism that he posited at other points in his career.

Yosef Lindell recounts the controversy surrounding different attempts at translating the Tishrei prayers.

The notion of Torah u-Madda—that Torah and secular studies can enrich each other—has been a byword in the Modern Orthodox community for decades. Yet some have claimed it is in decline. Over the course of the next few weeks, Lehrhaus is proud to present a symposium grappling with Torah u-Madda: how we got here, the challenges that have arisen, and how its meaning continues to evolve over time.

Zach Truboff on Rav Shagar, Israeli Post-Modernism and American Modern Orthodox Judaism.