Jewish Thought and History

With Hoshanah Rabbah today and the theme of repentance in mind, Jack Cohen explores the role that outsiders play in one's teshuva process through an enigmatic midrash instructing one to return a person to themselves.

Tzvi Goldstein responds to letters from Chaim Goldberg and Yaakov Resnik on his piece on the differences between Centrist and Haredi Orthodoxy, unpacking the view of Rav Hayyim Volozhin’s Nefesh Ha-Hayyim.

Tanya's description of the Godly soul as a literal portion of divinity is an empowering notion for many spiritual seekers. It is also, however, inconsistent with longstanding Jewish theological doctrine regarding the unity of God. Elisha Price examines several possible interpretations of Tanya's words, placing them in a broader kabbalistic and rabbinic context, to suggest that Chabad's conception of the soul is both "rational and precedented."

The masters of hasidut and psychoanalysis both arrived at a counterintuitive understanding of human nature, according to which narcissism is a reflection of self-hate rather than self-love. Admiel Kosman traces this idea as it appears in the works of Erich Fromm, the Rebbe of Warka, and Martin Buber, focusing on the commandment to love one's neighbor as a behaviorist correction.

Tzvi Sinensky responds to Lawrence Kaplan and continues the discussion on Mendelssohn and Jewish law.

How do Moses Mendelssohn and Revelation jibe? Judah Kerbel offers some perspective.

Aryeh Klapper with some new translation-stylings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik's Halakhic Man.

Yosi Amram contends with the notion of being part of a Chosen People, exploring its universality across cultures and the responsibilities this chosenness entails.

Yisrael Kashkin explores similarities between Yekkes and Hasidim.

Tamar Weissman and Batnadiv HaKarmi explore R. Yonatan's introduction to Megillat Esther, per Masekhet Megillah in the Talmud, and its relationship to biblical history.