Why Does Religion Need Commandments?

by Reuven Ziegler

What is the point of the myriad commandments governing every aspect of a Jew’s life?  Continue Reading »

9 Apr 2018

Judaism, Christianity, and First Things

by R. R. Reno

From its very beginning, First Things has been a venture in which Jews and Christians have worked together.  Continue Reading »

12 Jan 2018

Chronicles as Political Theology

by Peter J. Leithart

Modern rulers can learn political lessons from 1 and 2 Chronicles: Battles aren’t won with superior force, but by reliance on the God of heaven. Continue Reading »

12 Jan 2018

Jerusalem, Above
Our Chiefest Joy

by Ofir Haivry

By recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the US has also recognized the reality that the Jewish idea is not only alive, but thriving. Continue Reading »

8 Dec 2017

Everything Is Outside the Text

by Francesca Aran Murphy

Neither Christianity nor Judaism is actually a “religion of the Book”—both regard scripture as a secondary witness to something infinitely greater, namely, the presence of God with his people.  Continue Reading »

2 Nov 2017

The Jew’s Lament

by Cole Aronson

The Ninth of Av commemorates the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem, catastrophes whose repercussions are still endured by Jews today. Continue Reading »

31 Jul 2017

Thoughts on the Western Wall, Fifty Years Later

by George Weigel

Something resembling a real religion-and-society debate is finally emerging in Israel. Continue Reading »

7 Jun 2017

Babel and Brexit

by Shalom Carmy

Why did God disperse the men who built the Tower of Babel? The ancient rabbinic texts uncovered several vices that justified their punishment: A tower intended to reach heaven manifests the ambition to challenge God, the desire to “make for ourselves a name” expresses the sin of pride, and so . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jun 2017

Ivanka, Jared, and the Jewish Sabbath

by Gil Student

This great country has come a long way from when Jews had to choose between their jobs and the Ten Commandments. Let us not let the Trump media frenzy take us back to that unpleasant time. Continue Reading »

24 May 2017

Look at Their Democracy

by Shalom Carmy

In the three centuries since the prince-elector of Hanover became George I of Great Britain, few power brokers have been more detached from the populace they affected than Rabbi Menachem Shach (1898–2001). Born and bred in Lithuania, where he devoted himself to Talmudic study with some of the . . . . Continue Reading »

1 May 2017