The Tragic Gap: Birkat Ha-Ilanot Amidst COVID-19
Shumel Hain discusses how we can bridge the "Tragic Gap" between the world envisioned in the blessing on budding fruit tress and our current reality of pandemic and tragedy
Contagious Disease, Moral Behavior, and Prayer: Bava Kama Today
How did the Talmud look at plagues? Miriam Reisler offers a close reading of a key halakhic and narrative section of Bava Kama.
Going Viral
A new poem from Zohar Atkins offers a poetic meditation on life in the COVID world.
Who Knows? Jewish Leadership in Times of Uncertainty
"Who Knows" seems to have become a recurring question for so many of us. Erica Brown shares personal and biblical reflections on the meaning of this phrase for the age of coronavirus.
Social Distancing in the Rabbinic Tradition
Jeremy Brown discusses some remarkable Talmudic and historical precedents for social distancing during pandemics.
Incensed by Coronavirus: Prayer and Ketoret in Times of Epidemic
Dr. Eddie Reichman, an ER doctor on the front lines of fighting Coronavirus, and an expert in the history of halakhah and medicine, shares a unique perspective on history of combatting plagues in the Jewish tradition.
Esther the Queen, Hester Prynne, and The Scarlet Letter as Biblical Commentary
Tzvi Sinensky explores the hidden world of Esther with the help of Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Joy at Last: Reflections on the End of Esther
Erica Brown explores the deeper meaning of joy in Megillat Esther and beyond.
With Liberty and Presents for All
Through an analysis of Hanukkah ads, Yael Buechler explains how Yiddish newspapers used the Old Country language to acculturate Jews to the New Country.
The Fourth Chapter of Avot as an extended reflection on Epicurean Philosophy
In the spirit of Hanukkah, Yaakov Jaffe offers an intriguing thesis tying together a series of Mishnayot in the fourth chapter of Pirkei Avot: they are all responding to various aspects of Epicurean philosophy.
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