Scholarship

Chaim Trachtman offers some concluding thoughts on Judaism and racisim, and responds to Elli Fischer.

Jacob is described in Rabbinic thought as a pursuer of truth, but many have questioned whether this aligns with the simple reading of the text. Gavriel Lakser argues that a close reading shows that it does, even if he made some mistakes along the way.

Yehoshua Pfeffer on self-abnegating vs. life-affirming teshuva.

David Fried reviews The Golden Path: Maimonides Across Eight Centuries, the companion volume to the Yeshiva University Museum’s exhibit on Maimonides.

Natalie Zemon Davis, a Jewish historian known for shining a light on the lives of marginalized people in the early modern period, passed away in October. Ronnie Perelis commemorates Dr. Zemon Davis by reflecting on the experience of teaching her revolutionary work to his students at Stern College for Women.

Jeffrey Woolf contributes to the Lehrhaus Symposium on the recent OU statement regarding female clergy.

Elliot Salinger with an erudite and accessible article on Rambam's philosophy of "knowing."

William Kolbrener calls for an end to Rav-polemicizing so that all interested parties might finally take his legacy and teachings at full-depth.

Aton Holzer offers an existential perspective on the transition from Yom Kippur to Sukkot and applies some Heideggerian concepts to the festival of gathering.

Yonah Lavery-Yisraeli offers a careful examination of an enigmatic discussion in the Shulhan Arukh’s laws on neighborly relations. She demonstrates how “radical presence” and attention to sensory details is an essential strategy for halakhic decision-making.