Of Warriors and Wolves

In these difficult times for Israel, Aharon Frazer of Alon Shvut is thinking about the fundamental sanctity of human life and the long game. Can war and weapons really take us toward the messianic age?

By Whose Blood Do We Live?

Jon Kelsen uncovers a deeper rabbinic meaning to the blood needed to "passover" the Israelites.

Outside Help in the Teshuvah Process

With Hoshanah Rabbah today and the theme of repentance in mind, Jack Cohen explores the role that outsiders play in one's teshuva process through an enigmatic midrash instructing one to return a person to themselves.

Is Silence Complicity?: An Analysis of Shtikah Ke-Hoda’ah from Classic Halakhah to Current Events

Moshe Kurtz explores the different meanings of silence in Halakhah in light of recent political events

The Unique Obligation of Healthcare Workers to Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine

Sharon Galper Grossman and Shamai Grossman examine Halakhic sources regarding whether physicians and other healthcare workers have a greater requirement to receive the COVID-19 vaccine than the rest of the population.

Rabbi Yehudah ha-Nasi’s Yom Kippur

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

Vaccine Triage in Jewish Ethics – an Intermediate Approach

Aryeh Dienstag and Penina Dienstag respond to the articles by Sharon Galper-Grossman, Shamai Grossman, and Alan Jotkowitz regarding vaccine allocation.

Pidyon Shevuyim and the Pandemic

Jesse Lempel argues that the halakhic category of pidyon shevuyim might extend to prisoners held in unsafe conditions, safe as during the current pandemic.

Darkness We Have Come to Dispel: Between The Light of Hanukkah and the Black...

Mois Navon explores what makes Hanukkah so special.

A More Holistic Halakhic Approach to Vaccine Inequity

Alan Jotkowitz disagrees with Sharon Galper Grossman’s and Shamai Grossman’s halakhic argument that wealthy nations should provide booster shots to their own populations before contributing doses to poorer countries.