Judaism

The Bitter Month

Is a month without special observances a superior or inferior month? Continue Reading »

19 Oct 2020

Non-Jews often wonder about the value of close study of Jewish law. To the outsider it can seem hyper-specialized, often applying to a very narrow range of situations. What wisdom comes from this nitpicking about legal requirement, they wonder? Quite a bit, in fact. Seemingly remote rabbinic . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Oct 2020

Spiritual Social Distancing

by Erica Brown

Our working definition of holiness must include a new understanding of holy space, at least for the time being. Continue Reading »

17 Sep 2020

Progress Into the Abyss

by Roy Pinchot

Recent rom-coms paint Hasidic communities in a bad light while leading their characters into a postmodern abyss. Continue Reading »

10 Aug 2020

Solitary Prayer

by Shalom Carmy

It may seem odd to outsiders that in the middle of the last century, seating arrangements in synagogues were the most prominent marker of the division between American Orthodox Judaism and the other American Jewish religious movements. Orthodoxy maintained separate seating for men and women and the . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Aug 2020

The Rabbi Who Chose Trans Orthodoxy

by Sarah Rindner

For Yaakov Smith, a transgender person who lives and teaches in Jerusalem, Orthodoxy is a bit like the exaggerated femininity of the drag queen. Continue Reading »

24 Jul 2020

Torah Is the Air We Breathe

by Gil Student

Secular society sees religion—and public worship in particular—as little more than a cultural expression or a lifestyle choice. Continue Reading »

26 Jun 2020

The Old Man in the Nursery School

by Shalom Carmy

Nathan Alterman (1910–1970) was the most important Hebrew poet of his generation. He was popular with readers of poetry and continues to be much-studied. Side by side with the major modernist works that established his reputation, Alterman was also a prolific producer of occasional verse on . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jun 2020