Our Backs Will Touch: Similarities between Hasidim and German Jewish Hirschians

Yisrael Kashkin explores similarities between Yekkes and Hasidim.

The Tunneling Burglar and the False Prophet: Opening New Chapters of Biblical Interpretation

In this essay, Yaakov Taubes explores and elucidates methods of dividing the Humash into sections, and analyzes their significance -- particularly through the lens of Parshat Mishpatim.

When Prayer Meets Principle: Rabbi Soloveitchik and the Limits of Accommodation

Jonathcan Muskat explores the different ways Rabbi Soloveitchik communicated about Mehitzah.

Ha-Inyan Ha-Eloki: Restoring Yehuda Ha-Levy and The Kuzari to Their Andalusian Context

Jackson Gardner offers a new reading of the Kuzari’s Inyan Ha-Elohi.

Tu b’Shvat and the Question We Can’t Keep Avoiding: Is the Tree of the...

In this essay, Aviva Lauer analyzes the Biblical prohibition against cutting down fruit trees in wartime, and connects it to messages about human dignity.

Rejoicing at the Downfall of Enemies: From Ancient Egypt to Modern Israel

The propriety of celebrating the downfall of enemies presents a complex web of questions and seemingly contradictory Jewish texts. Michael Kurin makes sense of this subject and proposes a framework for applying it to matters of Israeli public policy.

The Other Patriarchal Narratives

Malka Simkovich compares the narratives of Noah and Lot, and the ways their stories trigger the beginnings of rival nations of Bnei Yisrael.

Humor… Me? Rabbinic Wordplay, Playing on Rabbinics

Daniel Shlian explores instances of pun usage in Jewish text.

Aggadic Men: Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks’s References to Rabbi Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel

In honor of the yahrtzeits of Rabbis Jonathan Sacks and Abraham Joshua Heschel, we present Steven Gotlib's study of Rabbi Sacks's complicated engagement with the scholarship and religious worldview of Rabbi Heschel.

Hearing the Shofar with Korah’s Children

In this winning essay of the Ateret Zvi Prize, Dr. Ethan Schwartz analyzes the Yamim Nora'im experience and interpretations of what happened to Korah's children.