“Asthenes” as a Jewish Textual Reference to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
The classification of certain people as "athenes" receives wide expression in Talmudic stories and even practical halakhic application. Shayna Herszage-Feldan considers the varieties of asthenes descriptions in Talmudic texts, proposing that the category encompasses the condition that is today diagnosed as contamination-focused obsessive compulsive disorder.
Why Are Women Obligated in Some Time-Bound Positive Commandments and Exempt from Others? A...
Michael Broyde offers a new theory for why halakhah obligates women in some time-bound positive mitzvot and exempts them from others.
Jewish Justice and #MeToo
Joshua Yuter considers rabbinic conceptions of justice in the age of #metoo.
Loyal As A Dog: How to Read “Jewish Art”
Marc Michael Epstein explores the nature of animal motifs in medieval Jewish manuscripts.
Liturgical Repetition: When Singing Becomes Sacrilegious
With the High Holidays approaching, a time iconic for its songful liturgy, Moshe Kurtz scrutinizes the practice of cantors repeating words during davening.
The Waters of Consolation: Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai and His Students
Miriam Gedwiser explores the time Rabban Yohanan ben Zakai's students sought to comfort their teacher.
Rabbi Joseph Hirsch Dünner (Ritzad): A (Mostly) Forgotten Pioneer of Academic Talmud
Isaac (Amichai) Roszler
Rabbi Joseph Hirsch Dünner (1833-1911), also known as Ritzad, was one of the first modern academic scholars of the Bavli, the Babylonian...
Cross-Dressing and Cross-Conduct: When Lo Yilbash Meets Contemporary Western Culture
Moshe Kurtz examines the Torah’s prohibition on cross-dressing as a lens to view the shifting contemporary gender norms.
Kamtza and Bar Kamtza in the Age of Cancel Culture
The Talmudic story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza is often used to highlight the destructive consequences of baseless hatred. In an intriguing reading, David Hellman suggests that the hatred that motivated the tale’s participants is more complex than meets the eye.
The Utility of Ambiguity
Dina Brawer explores "certainty" and "doubt" in rabbinic tradition.
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