Timely Thoughts

Did the Founding Fathers study Kabbalah? Yisroel Ben-Porat reviews Brian Ogren’s new book Kabbalah and the Founding of America.

Elli Fischer Just over a month ago, the Jewish world lost Rabbi Professor David Weiss Halivni, one of its greatest and most creative Talmudic minds...

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.

James Diamond takes a fresh approach to Maimonides's Passover theology and "Elijah's Cup."

Contemporary physicians have been heroic in the battle against COVID-19, but what was it like to be one of a handful of Jewish doctors confronting the Bubonic Plague during the 17th-century in Italy? Prolific medical halakhist and historian Eddie Reichman takes a close look at the four Jewish graduates of the Padua medical school class of 1623.

Yoni Zolty and Jordan Soffer respond to Jeff Fox's recent article on football and halakhic values.

Shimshon Nadel examines the question of whether we should continue to fast on Tishah Be-Av in light of the existence of the Modern State of Israel.

What led Rav Steinsaltz to inaugurate a yeshiva in the Soviet House of Sciences on February 22, 1989? In honor of R. Steinzlatz's sheloshim, Yehiel Poupko, a first-hand witness, offers a glimpse into the inner world of his mentor.

What was the covenant of peace God gave Pinchas? R. Shlomo Zuckier puts the pieces together to find out

Alex Ozar offers an in-depth reading of Eglah Arufah against the backdrop of current events.