Jewish Thought and History

In the next installment of our Torah u-Madda symposium, Dr. Erica Brown reflects on the concepts and values expressed by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks zt"l in his discussions on the integration of Torah and secular life.

Udi Dvorkin offers a plea to take Rav Shagar at his full value, which means reading him in the original Hebrew.

Tzvi Sinensky explores the Talmudic version of the Roman myth of Narcissus

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.

With newly found material, Bezalel Naor places Rav Kook's Hasidut into historical and literary context.

Steven Gotlib reviews Raphael Zarum’s Questioning Belief: Torah and Tradition in an Age of Doubt.

What do Paul, Purim costumes, and Purim torah all have in common? Yehuda Fogel delves into the meaning of hiddenness and its role in revelation on Purim.

Ilan Fuchs reviews Naomi Seidman’s book Sarah Schenirer and the Bais Yaakov Movement.

In commemoration of the upcoming Sheloshim of Rav Moshe Kahn, Mindy Schwartz Zolty shares a Hesped of her teacher in which she discusses his derekh ha-limmud and his derekh as a melamed.

The debate about Torah u-Madda and pop culture continues. Noah Marlowe argues that Chaim Potok's literature offers a useful conceptual framework for, and embodiment of, a profound confrontation between Judaism and elite elements of general culture.