Timely Thoughts

Historian Malka Simkovich explores ancient diasporic responses to collective trauma and what they can tell us about our responses to the aftermath of October 7th.

Rachel Sharansky-Danziger limns the deep collective pain of October 7th on Israelis and forges a way forward amidst its intensity.

Six new poems by Elhanan Nir—published here with English translation and annotation—capture the grief and discontinuity of this moment.

In this thoughtful essay, Cypess reflects on the melody that is carrying Israel in the wake of October 7th.

Yosef Blau, Senior Mashgiah Ruhani at Yeshiva University, wonders about the direction of Religious Zionism after October 7 and considers the role of Modern Orthodoxy outside of Israel.

In this next installment in our Israel symposium, Erica Brown argues that for Jewish students after October 7, choosing secular college is just not the choice it used to be.

Israel is at war, and the suffering is difficult to bear. To better appreciate this transformation and the pressures of this moment, we have assembled a symposium of community leaders and thinkers to address the effect of the crisis on Diaspora Jewry.

How is the U.K. community dealing with the meteoric rise in antisemitic acts since the outbreak of war? Michael Harris, a community rabbi, professor, and father of an Israeli soldier, shares his unique perspective.

When we boil matters down to their essence, what is the underlying difference between a yeshivish and centrist Orthodox worldview? Tzvi Goldstein argues that it’s not Torah Umada, Zionism, or women’s roles; these are all symptomatic of a deeper debate about this world and the World to Come.

Just in advance of the shloshim for David Ellenson, the former president of Hebrew Union College, Jonathan D. Sarna pays tribute to a man whose life, work, and friendships spanned the Jewish denominational divide.