Jewish Thought and History

Yaakov Jaffe responds to David Stein's earlier call to revamp the standard day school Talmud curriculum.

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

In honor of the yahrtzeit of Dolce, the wife of Rabbi Eleazar of Worms, Chaya Sima Koenigsberg explores Rabbi Eleazar's moving elegy for his wife and reflects upon Dolce's character as a model for Koenigsberg's own life and the lives of Jewish women today.

The Hasidic work, Aish Kodesh, under the scholarly microscope, by Henry Abramson.

Aton Holzer offers a novel re-reading of the Seder, arguing that it reflects and recreates four types of liberty that can be found in the Exodus narrative, as well as a fifth form of freedom.

Tamar Ron Marvin argues for the importance of recognizing a Jewish idea of Aliyat Ha-Dorot.

Shmuel Lamm examines Rabbi Norman Lamm's sermons for insights on a crucial issue.

Jeffrey Woolf contributes to the Lehrhaus Symposium on the recent OU statement regarding female clergy.

In honor of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks’s 70th birthday, Ari Lamm explores his legacy as a biblical commentator.

Tzvi Goldstein's recent piece on Centrist and Haredi Orthodoxy has generated many responses from our readers. Today we share a response from Chaim Goldberg, who vigorously argues that the greatest pillar for contemporary Haredi ideology is not Ramhal's Mesilat Yesharim but Rav Hayyim Volozhin's Nefesh Ha-Hayyim.