Timely Thoughts

Stuart Halpern explains how, when faced with uncertainty, danger, and personal and communal hardships, Americans have turned to the story of the Exodus for inspiration.

Ezra Sivan presents a new analysis of Shabbat and how it throws light on so much more in the Torah.

Several reasons are given in our tradition about the reason for the fast on the Tenth of Tevet. The liturgy for the day takes a stand on what the true reasons are, but Yaakov Jaffe questions whether this stand is the right one.

In a rare piece of Lehrhaus Purim Torah, Mark Glass explores—with surprising halakhic rigor—whether the Pokémon named Bulbasaur’s use of a Solar Beam attack would constitute cooking on Shabbat.

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.

In an original Hebrew poem for Tishrei 5785, Shoshanah Haberman addresses God directly about the pain and uncertainty of our moment.

Tzvi Sinensky comments on the pitfalls of being overly dependent on the "Talmudic reid."

Dina Brawer explores "certainty" and "doubt" in rabbinic tradition.

Avraham’s challenge to God’s planned destruction of Sodom raises the fundamental ethical problem of collective punishment. The resolution of this challenge, Sruli Fruchter explains, enables Avraham to realize God’s highest ideals and to confront the conflict between compassion for oppressors and consideration for their victims.

Recent years have seen dramatic changes in the packaging of Taharat ha-Mishpahah education on Instagram, from video reels to influencers to new, diverse online communities. Lindsey Bodner offers an astute, well-researched review of this new paradigm shift in Taharat ha-Mishpahah education today.