Timely Thoughts

May one opt to participate in a potentially dangerous vaccine trial? This theoretical halakhic question has suddenly become all-too-urgent. Sharon Galper Grossman and Shamai Grossman explore.

At the height of the cholera epidemic in 1831, Hatam Sofer delivered a timely sermon on a perplexing midrash to Parshat Ki Tavo. The take-home, suggests Elli Fischer, is all-too familiar in the COVID era.

David Berger's reflection commemorating the passing of Yaakov Elman, ob"m.

Shimshon Nadel examines the question of whether we should continue to fast on Tishah Be-Av in light of the existence of the Modern State of Israel.

David Zvi Kalman reviews Koren Publishers’ new graphic novel version of Megillat Esther.

Yaakov Taubes examines three hypothetical “What if?” books and what they can teach us about history, science, and halakhah.

The secular calendar has its leap day on Feb. 29. On the Jewish calendar, our leap day is 30 Adar I, since Adar in a non-leap year always has 29 days. Yaakov Taubes explores all of the Halakhot pertaining to this unique day.

In his letter to the editor, Gershon Klapper draws upon three medieval sources that undermine Ben Greenfield's recent reading of the Zohar on the three attributes of the Avot.

  Josh Cahan   Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 12:11R. Lazar said: Like a king who wished to marry a well-born noblewoman, and said, “I will not wed her...

Yom Kippur as a mother, explored by The Lehrhaus's Leslie Ginsparg Klein