Timely Thoughts

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...

Benjamin Barer traces the word Hevel through Jewish texts, showing how the use of the same word can teach us both about the wisdom of Kohelet we read this past Shabbat and the character of Hevel who we will read about in this week's Parashah.

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.

In commemoration of the shloshim of Rabbi Simcha Krauss z"l, Dan Margulies offers a moving reflection of his teacher.

Kate Rozansky explores the life of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai through the prism of the women in his life.

Leead Staller argues for a more nuanced approach to euthanasia in Halakha.

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

Akiva Mattenson writes on the relationship between God and Judgement.

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.

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.