Avraham and Sodom: To Pray Against God
Avraham’s challenge to God’s planned destruction of Sodom raises the fundamental ethical problem of collective punishment. The resolution of this challenge, Sruli Fruchter explains, enables Avraham to realize God’s highest ideals and to confront the conflict between compassion for oppressors and consideration for their victims.
Beyond the Walls of the Synagogue: Prayer as a Virtue
With lyrical prose, Natan Oliff teaches us how to view prayer as a virtue and let it enter every aspect of our lives, making us into prayerful people.
Of Divine Nostrils and the Primordial Altar: A Pipeline of Sanctity
What does the makeup of the altar drainage pipes tell us about the nature of holiness? Shlomo Zuckier explores!
Rav Kook on Culture and History
Zach Truboff explores Rav Kook's fascinating philosophy of history, focusing on five recently translated essays.
Saving Non-Jews on Shabbat: Two Perspectives on the Development of a Sensitive Halakhah
Jonathan Ziring explores the innovative nature of different Halakhic rulings permitting violating Shabbat to save non-Jewish lives.
The Soul of Man Under Postmodernism: Further comments on Rav Shagar’s contribution
Shalom Carmy
The last couple of weeks have brought two worthwhile assessments of Rav Shagar’s Faith Shattered and Restored: Judaism in the Postmodern Age, Matt Lubin’s...
The Myth of Jewish Male Menstruation
In older times, Christian New Year’s Day celebrations were sometimes marked by antisemitic incidents. Although such days are behind us, Tzvi Sinensky recalls the antisemitic canard that Jewish men menstruated, a pervasive and disturbing myth that demeaned Jews and all women.
Vashti: Feminist or Foe?
Tzvi Sinensky contends that the rabbinic and feminist readings of Vashti are not diametrically opposed.
Is Silence Complicity?: An Analysis of Shtikah Ke-Hoda’ah from Classic Halakhah to Current Events
Moshe Kurtz explores the different meanings of silence in Halakhah in light of recent political events
Our Hands Did Not Shed This Blood?
Alex Ozar offers an in-depth reading of Eglah Arufah against the backdrop of current events.