Scholarship

Ben Frogel reviews a new volume that introduces thirty-five different Jewish approaches to virtue ethics and attempts to link them into one continuous tradition.

The Mei Ha-Shiloah’s statements on predetermination pose a theological challenge to foundational Jewish doctrines. In an analysis weaving together several Torah narratives and Izhbitzer commentaries, Reuven Boshnack proposes an empowering interpretation of the Mei Ha-Shiloah.

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.

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.

The study of ta’amei ha-mitzvot—the rationales underlying commandments—is a popular source of spiritual meaning, but does it also have relevance to halakhic practice? Dovid Campbell explores an intergenerational rabbinic debate regarding the relationship of ta’amei ha-mitzvot and the requirement to perform mitzvot with a proper intention.

Outside the Land of Israel, we add an extra day to several holidays. Michael Kurin wonders: why not on Hanukkah?

Shlomo Zuckier explores the nature of Yom Kippur and its relationship to atonement.

Jerome Marcus on the Akeidah: It's not about ethics vs. divine command, but about Hashem versus Elokim!

Shimon Laufer examines how Rabbinic understanding of the holiday of Passover influenced the holiday of Purim, and how one of the oldest manuscripts of the Mishnah hints that the converse may be true as well.

Tanya's description of the Godly soul as a literal portion of divinity is an empowering notion for many spiritual seekers. It is also, however, inconsistent with longstanding Jewish theological doctrine regarding the unity of God. Elisha Price examines several possible interpretations of Tanya's words, placing them in a broader kabbalistic and rabbinic context, to suggest that Chabad's conception of the soul is both "rational and precedented."