What Could (and Couldn’t) the Rabbis Do?

What sort of powers did Hazal have in the first century? Ari Lamm wonders.

The Development of Neo-Hasidism: Echoes and Repercussions Part I: Introduction, Hillel Zeitlin, and Martin...

In part one of this series, Ariel Mayse provides an introduction to the history of neo-hasidism, through the voices of Hillel Zeitlin and Martin Buber.

No Rest for the Weary? Ambiguity in Yehudah Halevi’s “Yom Shabbaton”

Yaakov Jaffe analyzes the multiple meanings of a medieval Jewish poem and popular Shabbat table song.

Can Religious Zionism Do Teshuvah?

  Zach Truboff In 1933, as the month of Elul approached, the Jewish people faced a frightening array of dangers. That year, Hitler consolidated power as...

A “What If” Review: Hypothetical History, Science, and Halakhah

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

Who Will Defend Maimonides? Rav Soloveitchik on the Mishneh Torah and the Guide

With the aid of some new primary sources, David Curwin offers a fresh view of the Rav's embrace of Rambam and his most important writings.

eliezer Berkovits

An Old Jew and His Grandchildren

In the 1950s, Eliezer Berkovits reflects on Judaism, tradition and how generations connect with one another.

“Miracles Do Not Happen at Every Hour”: Purim Drinking as anti-Christian Polemic

Eliav Grossman examines the Talmud's account of drinking on Purim, reading it as directed at Christian texts and traditions.

How Halakhah Changes: From Nahem to the “Tisha be-Av Kumzitz”

Chaim Saiman on halakhic change and the observance of Tisha Be-Av.

Selflessness and the Self in the Teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

Yosef Bronstein explores the thought of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe.