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

Going Benedict, Orthodox Jewish Style

by Bethany Mandel

The Jewish community has a great deal more experience than the Christian community at operating independently of many of society’s boundaries. Continue Reading »

31 Mar 2017

Absolute Reason

by Shalom Carmy

The Collected Works of Spinoza, Vols. I and II edited and translated by edwin curleyprinceton, 1,544 pages, $66 Aprospective donor to Yeshiva University with whom I was once asked to meet was obsessed with one question: Did we teach Spinoza? He had not the least interest in discussing why Spinoza . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Feb 2017

King David

by Meir Y. Soloveichik

In a provocative and profound essay in this magazine (“A King in Israel,” May 2010), the late Michael Wyschogrod proposed that the Jewish state define itself as a democratic, constitutional monarchy. Israel, Wyschogrod suggested, should rename its head of state—the president elected by its . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jan 2017

Sabbath Alone

by Viva Hammer

The sun falls between the leaves outside the kitchen window as I prepare for my first Sabbath alone. Beginning on Thursday morning, Sabbath greetings have arrived, and they have not ceased. From Berlin a photograph of flowers for the Sabbath table, and then a goodbye to my parents in Sydney as they . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Nov 2016

Jews of Silence

by Shalom Carmy

When I think of the generation of survivors—not only of the horror they endured during the Holocaust and its recollection, not only of the nobility or heroism many of them achieved, but of the virtually impossible small and great steps they were compelled to make to rehabilitate their lives and ours—it is Wiesel’s voice that underlies and often amplifies theirs. Continue Reading »

8 Jul 2016

There and Back Again: A First-Century Jewish Tale

by Wesley Hill

Michael Chabon once wrote a novel titled Jews with Swords, then re-titled something tamer (Gentlemen of the Road). Explaining his initial choice, he said: “The story of the Jews centers around—one might almost say that it stars—the hazards and accidents, the misfortunes and disasters, the feats of inspiration, the travail and despair, and intermittent moments of glory and grace, that entail upon journeys from home and back again.” Continue Reading »

10 Jun 2016