Signing Up for a COVID-19 Vaccine Trial

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.

The Hasmoneans as a Paradigm for Modern Jewish Sovereignty

R. Shimshon Nadel explores the connection between the Hasmonean dynasty and the modern-day State of Israel.

Politics from the Pulpit: An Epistemological Reflection

Politics from the Pulpit Redux: Don Seeman builds on Jason Herman.

Shnei Zeitim: A Hanukkah Piyyut About the Separation of Powers

Yitzhak Szyf explores the piyyut of Shnei Zeitim, a once well-known addition to the Shabbat Hanukkah services that subtly critiques the Hasmoneans for usurping the kingship while serving as priests.

When Prayer Meets Principle: Rabbi Soloveitchik and the Limits of Accommodation

Jonathcan Muskat explores the different ways Rabbi Soloveitchik communicated about Mehitzah.

Why Pandemics Happen to Good People

What theological language can we use to describe our current pandemic moment? In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, Jeremy Brown takes scope of the ancient and modern notions of plague theodicy and reviews some ideas from the 2021 National Jewish Book Award Winner Torah in a Time of Plague.

The Nature of Halakhic Civil Law

Chaim Saiman analyzes how the Torah's two introductions to the revelation at Sinai correspond to two perspectives on the nature of halakhic civil law.

Lifnei Hashem Tit’haru — The Hinge of Leviticus and the Heart of Yom Kippur

Chaim Saiman explores the grammatical structures of Yom Kippur mussaf, particularly in comparison to Torah reading.

Rav Yehuda Amital and the Secret of Jewish Continuity

In commemoration of Rav Amital's seventh Yahrtzeit, Shlomo Zuckier shares Rav Amital's teachings on Jewish continuity, in Derasha form.

Korach

A poem on parshat Korach by Zohar Atkins