Jewish Thought and History

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, published here are excerpts from letters of an American student studying in Israel in 1973. These letters, written during and immediately after the war, shed light on Yeshivat Har Etzion in its formative years and the lasting impact of the Yom Kippur War.

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.

What do Adam, Enkidu, and Reish Lakish all have in common? Eli Putterman explores.

Michah Gottlieb reflects on the recent discussion on biblical scholarship and its implications for Orthodox Jews, in light of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch's writings. 

Lawrence Kaplan responds to AJ Berkovitz’s article on the many conflicting interpretations of a passage in Midrash Tehillim, highlighting two different approaches advanced by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

A Look at Prof. Louis H. Feldman through the pages of the Yeshiva College student newspaper.

What do you get when you read George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda alongside Rav Soloveitchik’s Kol Dodi Dofek? A cross between Zionism and feminism, argues Eileen Watts.

David Berger's eulogy for Revel's late Prof. Arthur Hyman, a leading scholar of Medieval Jewish philosophy.

Jonathan Ziring comments on the "Jewishness" of religious tolerance.

In honor of the yahrtzeits of Rabbis Jonathan Sacks and Abraham Joshua Heschel, we present Steven Gotlib's study of Rabbi Sacks's complicated engagement with the scholarship and religious worldview of Rabbi Heschel.