Scholarship

AJ Berkovitz traces the reception history of a Midrash Tehillim that seems to equate the reading of Psalms with Torah study, offering a fascinating case study of how tradition evolves.

Marc Michael Epstein explores the nature of animal motifs in medieval Jewish manuscripts.

What motivated the first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rav Herzog, to work tirelessly on the seemingly quixotic project of running the modern State of Israel on the basis of Halakhah? Reviewing Alexandar Kaye's new book on the subject, Rabbi Shalom Carmy explains.

Eli Rubin presents a stirring passage from the Zohar, with the Lubavitcher Rebbe's commentary.

Sara Tillinger Wolkenfeld offers a reflection on the role of imagination in bringing about the recent women's Siyyum ha-Shas.

When Synagogues Reopen, May the Congregation Permit a Bar Mitzvah Boy to Make Up His Torah Reading? Moshe Kurtz weighs in.

In our saturated environment, can any contemporary work on hilkhot Shabbat break new ground? Ezra Schwartz explains that Rav Rimon's newest work does precisely this.

Tzvi Goldstein responds to letters from Chaim Goldberg and Yaakov Resnik on his piece on the differences between Centrist and Haredi Orthodoxy, unpacking the view of Rav Hayyim Volozhin’s Nefesh Ha-Hayyim.

Jonathan Ziring explores the innovative nature of different Halakhic rulings permitting violating Shabbat to save non-Jewish lives.

Jennie Rosenfeld reviews David Bashevkin's "Sin-a-gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought."