Scholarship

Steven Gotlib reviews Eugene Korn’s To Be a Holy People: Jewish Tradition and Ethical Values, a book which asks hard questions about whether Halakhah can integrate with the demands of contemporary ethics.

Contemporary physicians have been heroic in the battle against COVID-19, but what was it like to be one of a handful of Jewish doctors confronting the Bubonic Plague during the 17th-century in Italy? Prolific medical halakhist and historian Eddie Reichman takes a close look at the four Jewish graduates of the Padua medical school class of 1623.

Twelve years after the passing of R. Menachem Froman, his daughter-in-law, the scholar and activist Tchiya Froman, considers R. Froman’s literary critique of the Gush Emunim settlement enterprise and his determination that Judaism requires a feminine revolution.

Alex Ozar explores the significance of Torah study in the womb.

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.

Rabbi Ezra Schwartz reviews Nishmat HaBayit, a responsa collection by the Yoatzot Halacha of Nishmat

Meshulam Gotlieb analyzes a midrash on Jacob's ladder dream to understand Jacob's lifelong fear, how he became so fearful and how it affected his life.

Tzvi Goldstein's recent piece on Centrist and Haredi Orthodoxy has generated many responses from our readers. Today we present two stimulating letters by R.A. Alpert and Yaakov Resnik, who examine Goldstein's analysis from the perspectives of Hirschian Torah im Derekh Eretz and his analysis of the underpinnings of the Haredi hashkafa, respectively.

Aton Holzer explores the changing nature of Jewish interactions with Rome from Maccabees through the Rabbinic period.

Covid-19 has underscored the extent to which Halakhah is profoundly concerned for mental well-being. Addressing this timely issue, Sharon Galper Grossman and Shamai A. Grossman offer a comprehensive overview of relevant halakhic perspectives on mental health and Halakhah.