Social Distancing in the Rabbinic Tradition

Jeremy Brown discusses some remarkable Talmudic and historical precedents for social distancing during pandemics.

Letters to the Editor: Responses to Jeff Fox on Football

Yoni Zolty and Jordan Soffer respond to Jeff Fox's recent article on football and halakhic values.

What Does Pursuing Tzedek Actually Entail?

In its opening verses, Parshat Shoftim describes a judicial system that enshrines pursuing Tzedek, or justice, as a core value. Benjamin Barer unpacks a Gemara in Sanhedrin that provides three distinct conceptions of the obligation to pursue justice, suggesting how we might build a more sacred society.

Reclaiming Dignity Reviewed

How successful is the new book, Reclaiming Dignity: A Guide to Tzniut for Men and Women, at setting forth a new Torah-based vision for modesty? Laurie Novick offers a careful review, carefully considering both the personal essays and halakhic/hashkafic analyses set forward in this important work.

The OU Paper: Three Lenses

Elli Fischer contributes to the Lehrhaus Symposium on the recent OU statement regarding female clergy.

A Call for Order: Maimonides and the Mishnah

Yaakov Taubes explores the background to Maimonides’s explanation for how the Mishnah is ordered.

The Pitfalls of Excessive Rabbinic Honorifics

What is the appropriate way to address a rabbi? Moshe Kurtz offers a thoughtful perspective on lay usage of rabbinic titles.

Of Divine Nostrils and the Primordial Altar: A Pipeline of Sanctity

What does the makeup of the altar drainage pipes tell us about the nature of holiness? Shlomo Zuckier explores!

If Your Wife Is Short, Bend Down and Hear Her Whisper: Rereading Tanur shel...

Miriam Gedwiser Sometimes, returning to a familiar text uncovers something new. In this essay, I hope to reexamine the story of the Oven of Akhnai...

Rabbi Elazar Ben Dordaya: The Master of Teshuvah

Shloime Schwartz looks at the numerous lessons about Teshuvah that the commentaries derive from the story of Rabbi Elazar ben Dordaya.