Jewish Thought and History

Who was Monsieur Shoshani, the mysterious and brilliant teacher of some of the greatest 20th century Jewish thinkers? A new look into recently published notebooks of this important figure may help solve the puzzle. David Lang, Yoel Finkelman, and Admiel Kosman offer a commentary and analysis of one such enigmatic passage.

Zev Eleff and Menachem Butler explore the reception of Moses Mendelssohn in American Orthodox Judaism, focusing on a curious commotion surrounding the bicentennial of Mendelssohn's death

Rabbi David Wolkenfeld explores the meaning of faith in this review of Rabbi Chaim Jachter's Reason to Believe

Ariel Evan Mayse considers the neo-Hasidic approaches of Shlomo Carlebach and Zalman Schachter-Shalomi.

Can we imagine a world in which the Exodus never occurred? David Curwin suggests that this - as well as a broader dispute about the relationship between Torah and history - is subject to a dispute between The Rav, R. Joseph Dov he-Levi, and his namesake, the Beit ha-Levi.

Marc B. Shapiro reviews a new edited volume by Yoram Hazony, Gil Student, and Alex Sztuden that offers a traditional defense of revelation in light of modern biblical criticism.

With lively and accessible prose, Tamar Ross clarifies her theology of the revelation at Sinai in contrast to more traditional formulations such as Yoram Hazony's.

The Brachos Bee, Zev Eleff argues, shows how Orthodox Jews Americanize and form their own particular religious subculture.

In honor of the recent release of Moshe Koppel's new Koren/Maggid book, Judaism Straight Up: Why Real Religion Endures, Elli Fischer traces the decades-long trajectory of Koppel's "Torah of the Kishkes" philosophy of Judaism.

Rav Dov Zinger discusses his innovative perspective on education, and why its important to listen to what happens beyond the back and forth of the classroom.