Timely Thoughts

Yosef Bronstein explores the thought of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe.

Yaakov Jaffe traces the origins and evolution of the custom to shake the lulav in different directions.

Tragic events this past summer brought a wave of protests against racial injustice that shows few signs of abating. Yitzhak Grossman shares how rabbinic leaders in the United States and Israel have historically approached the tactic of protest, and explores what their views might mean for our current moment.

David Schwartz explores thematic similarities between the Hanukkah miracle and Pharaoh’s dreams.

Steven Weiner writes on the significance of tears on Tishah Be-Av and how they relate to the thanks of birkat ha-mazon.

For Parshat Zakhor, this short story by Shira Eliaser richly imagines the world of King Saul and the clandestine encounter that brought Haman’s Amalekite ancestors into the world.

In advance of Tisha Be-Av, Tzvi Novick annotates and interprets the kinnah of a’adeh ad hug shamayim by the master poet R. Eleazar ha-Kalir, unlocking its complex acrostic to determine who its speaker is meant to be.

YU President Ari Berman's opening address, comparing YU to a Sukkah! Shlomo Zuckier captures this historic moment in his notes.

Merri Ukraincik contemplates G-d's role in our lives.

Did the English Puritans of New England emulate Jewish prayers and practices? Yisroel Benporat investigates the common claim and its complexities--as well as what the myth itself tells us about Jews in America.