Scholarship

A growing list of dati le’umi leaders and thinkers frame war as a desirable state and even an opportunity for spiritual elevation. Religious Israeli activist Ariel Shwartz traces this trend with alarm and argues that it contradicts deep-rooted Torah values. Translated by Mordechai Blau.

Atara Cohen considers the theological implications of the Talmud’s surprising majority opinion as to how the Messiah will come.

Can we learn Torah from Star Wars, superheroes, or the hit Netflix show ‘The Crown’? Olivia Friedman, a teacher at Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago, says yes, arguing that bringing pop culture into the Judaic studies classroom in a meaningful way not only makes learning more fun, but models the type of integration that Modern Orthodoxy stands for.

Shlomo Zuckier surveys and analyzes the debate over Zoom Seders during coronavirus.

Sharon Galper Grossman and Shamai Grossman examine the halakhic permissibility of vaccine mandates by governments and employers.

Why have stories of Jewish masquerade captured audiences since ancient times? In her latest, Malka Z. Simkovich explores the hidden meaning behind dressing up, from the Second Temple to '90s cinema.

Aryeh Klapper analyzes Rav Shaul Yisraeli’s classic work on civilian casualties in Halakhah.

The father heard the voice of God, Elli Fischer explains, but the son ends up with the blade on his neck.

Rena Kosowsky compares the treatment of sexual assault in the Bible and the Talmud, and explores the implications of what that means for how we should address it today.

Yakov Z. Mayer reflects on the life of a remarkable Hasidic academic.