TRADITION Questions

“You may already be the winner of one million dollars!” In this week’s TRADITION Questions, Chaim Strauchler explains how your ability to determine the spending of 1 billion dollars differs from the old Publisher Clearing House Sweepstakes. He finds meaning in what this odd election for the World Zionist Congress says about the history of Zionism and modern Jewish identity.
March 20, 2025

TRADITION Questions: Zionist Elections & Jewish Election

With Purim a week away, Chaim Strauchler questions the number of weak-ties in our Jewish communities and what they say about Purims past and future.
March 5, 2025

TRADITION Questions: Weak Ties and Purim

In advance of the arrival of the month of Adar (and a week ahead of our reading of Parashat Shekalim), Chaim Strauchler questions what we choose to count in Jewish communal life. How does “modern” Jewish counting bias communal life? Does it cause us to fail to see those who do not fit traditional family models?
February 24, 2025

TRADITION Questions: What Counts?

AI tempts everyone, from the 6th grader facing a book report deadline to a Rabbi needing to prepare for Shabbat HaGadol. The promise of an easy shortcut is hard to resist. Josh Flug, in a guest installment of TRADITION Questions, considers the costs—in integrity, in the final product, and the damage done to “amelut” as a Jewish value.
February 6, 2025

TRADITION Questions: The Rabbi & AI

A new party favor has begun to make regular appearances at weddings and other smachot—ear plugs. Chaim Strauchler asks what these small pieces of polyurethane say about risk-taking and public health in a halakhic community.
January 23, 2025

TRADITION Questions: The Volume of Jewish Life

Chaim Strauchler connects a peculiar Russian youth trend to a classic Hasidic parable and questions what it means for today’s Jewish educators and youth.
January 9, 2025

TRADITION Questions: The Pawed Prince

Simple Hanukka lights seem insufficient to the scale of modern holiday celebrations. Many Jewish homes now contain displays similar to those of their gentile neighbors – but with Hanukka themes. Chaim Strauchler questions the motivation for these enhancements and what they say about this moment in American Jewish life.
December 26, 2024

TRADITION Questions: “Front-Lawn” Hanukka

For generations, Jews did not buy German automobiles. While there was no halakhic basis for this taboo, it reflected a Jewish collective will. Chaim Strauchler questions the meaning of this practice, and what it says about extra-halakhic collective Jewish action.
December 12, 2024

TRADITION Questions: Jewish Practices Independent of Halakha

To commemorate Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks’ fourth Yahrzeit, TRADITION turns its questioning gaze inward. Last year was the 50th anniversary of R. Sacks’ first major publication, “Alienation and Faith.” The essay probed a core assumption of R. Soloveitchik’s “Lonely Man of Faith”—the Jew is fated to an existence that is divided, alienated, and lonely. At the young age of 25, R. Sacks disagreed. Chaim Strauchler examines the article’s publication and reception.
November 21, 2024

TRADITION Questions: Lonely Men of Courage and Humility

Chaim Strauchler questions the hermetically-sealed plastic sleeves in which hadassim and aravot are delivered. What advantages and disadvantages does pre-checking mitzvot create?
November 7, 2024

TRADITION Questions: Packaging and Product

With Yom Kippur hours away, Chaim Strauchler shares reflections on the sins of auto-correct. How does technology uniquely affect a transliterating community? What future technologies might assist and hamper the moral quest and the religious life journey?
October 10, 2024

TRADITION Questions: Auto-Teshuva

Chaim Strauchler extrapolates from the earworm to a term he coins the “Torah worm.” At seemingly random points in the yearly public reading, community members join the ba’al keria in singing a phrase from the Torah reading. This installment of “TRADITION Questions” asks what unites the texts that become Torah worms? What do such Torah worms say about public Torah reading and about modern Jewish life?
September 19, 2024

TRADITION Questions: The Torah Earworm

Chaim Strauchler examines recent administrative determinations regarding the charitable status of Jewish organizations in Canada and the US. He questions what these decisions mean to Zionism and diaspora Jewish communities.
September 5, 2024

TRADITION Questions: Tax Battles and Defending Zionism

During this difficult year we have thought often of Israel as a distinct land and people. While much media focuses negative attention on this exceptionalism, Chaim Strauchler points to some recent studies to suggest that Israel possesses a motivating story through which its citizens find meaning and happiness, and that other societies might learn from its example.
August 22, 2024

TRADITION Questions: Parenthood, Happiness & Meaning

Following in the footsteps of Avraham Avinu and Rambam, new Jewish brands seek to share Hashem’s message far and wide. With stylish consumer goods, they encourage consumers to identify their religious values. Chaim Strauchler questions the risks and opportunities within this new form of religious messaging.
August 8, 2024

TRADITION Questions: The Torah of Swag

A slew of surveys support the idea that post-October 7 we are witnessing a great “coming together” of the worldwide Jewish community. And not a moment too soon! During this season of the “three weeks” Jewish unity is certainly the order of the day. Chaim Strauchler considers whether this moment of unity reflects a new common Orthodox marketplace of consumers, students, and donors in this week’s Tradition Questions.
July 25, 2024

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Come Together

Reflecting on Sefirat ha-Omer’s conclusion and absence, Chaim Strauchler questions the place of numbers in Jewish life and law. How do we benefit from a number’s certainty—and what price do we pay for that security?
June 20, 2024

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Who Knows Numbers?

Chaim Strauchler draws a parallel between the “free food” at airport lounges and at shul kiddush. In this week’s “TRADITION Questions” he asks how new luxurious norms might challenge the classic social inclusion created by Jewish community, and sees within the gamification and stratification of capitalist society the early formation of competing identities to those of classic religious community.
May 30, 2024

TRADITION Questions: Airport Lounges & Shul Kiddush

The current dramatic rise in antisemitism raises questions about the nature of the phenomenon. Examining claims that it is not a typical hatred but a conspiracy theory, TRADITION’s associate editor Chaim Strauchler uses the idea of an anti-story to connect the Jewish story and its opposite.
May 16, 2024

TRADITION Questions: Anti-Romcom and Antisemitism

Judaism’s prominence in modern society as well as new communication technologies create opportunities for those outside Judaism to see what goes on inside. This is both an opportunity and a risk. Chaim Strauchler questions whether this reality requires change in how and what we communicate.
April 11, 2024

TRADITION QUESTIONS: A Broken Secret Code

Chaim Strauchler recently introduced us to the concept of “Ghost Mitzvot” which are beginning to come “back to life” with renewed interest and observance in our modern era. They have also awoken a set of questions by a pair of interlocutors aiming to tease out differences in the examples cited. Yaakov Jaffe, following an earlier post about tekhelet by Baruch Sterman, considers the case of new wheat (hadash) and the forces at play.
March 28, 2024

TRADITION Questions: “Ghost Mitzvot” Response

Responding to Chaim Strauchler’s recent essay about “Ghost Mitzvot” which fell out of use or disappeared and have surprisingly regained popularity in our own era, Baruch Sterman, of the Ptil Tekhelet Institute explains why the “royal and rarest blue” tzitzit strings and the process of producing them may be more of a unique story.
March 25, 2024

REPLY: Revenant Mitzvot

Economic prosperity and increased Torah learning have prompted efforts to rekindle mitzvot which the winds of history had extinguished. Chaim Strauchler asks what we can learn from the success and failures of these efforts.
March 14, 2024

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Ghost Mitzvot

In the long annals of TRADITION (and upon the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field), never have the words “Super Bowl” appeared. Chaim Strauchler introduces the phrase into one of these sacred canons to probe the moving lines between sports culture and religious stricture. Seeing the resilience of Orthodoxy’s connection to popular culture in a yeshiva’s Super Seder, Strauchler asks how rising antisemitism affects the community’s feelings of apartness and “a part”-ness in the sports arena and beyond.
February 15, 2024

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Super Seder

Bar and Bat Mitzva celebrations now include custom-designed logos that families splash across invitations, party décor, and swag. While past celebrations might have reached back to childhood, today’s logos often evoke consumer brands and corporate culture. Chaim Strauchler asks about what messages this sends to our children in these critical moments of spiritual and cultural transmission?
February 1, 2024

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Bar Mitzva Logos

An opportunity to both differentiate from general society while acculturating to its happy materialism, yeshiva day schools' mid-winter intercession symbolizes much about contemporary Orthodox Jewish culture in America. Focusing on the idea of leisure, Chaim Strauchler asks how Yeshiva Week will be different this year. How will the ongoing war in Israel change how American Jews experience this break?
January 18, 2024

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Yeshiva Week at War

Israel very deliberately chooses names for its wars. As we prepare for the parsha of names and ancient hatred, Chaim Strauchler asks why we don’t similarly name the forms that antisemitism takes. A single name would ease communication, allowing us to better express what the “monster” is and how it might be fought. Reviewing three candidates for today’s legitimization of explicit Jew-hatred, Strauchler finds advantages and disadvantages for each sword by which the monster might be slain.
January 4, 2024

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Naming the Monster

What do the colors of Hannuka candles say about religious culture and crafty consumerism? Do our holidays need color palattes? How much of American Jewish life is tied to subconscious marketing trends? Chaim Strauchler speculates in a very special holiday installment of TRADITION Questions brought to you by Hallmark.
December 14, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Hanukka Blues

What lessons can be drawn from the November 14th March for Israel? In reviewing the history of rallies for Jewish causes in Washington, Chaim Strauchler sees themes that link these gatherings—but also identifies meaningful changes that reflect trends in both American society and in American Judaism.
November 30, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Who Speaks To/For the Jews?

TRADITION QUESTIONS breaks from its usual format this week so Chaim Strauchler, reporting on his recent visit to Israel as part of an OU and RCA Rabbinic Mission, can focus on one of the biggest questions facing the Jewish world: In light of the crisis facing the State of Israel, and the apparent flourishing of Jewish unity—what is the most authentic form of such national unity that will most likely be long lasting?
November 16, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: What Does Unity Really Mean?

For over three weeks we have been witness to the documentary evidence of the unimaginable horror and bloodshed—some it it produced by the vile perpetrators themselves. Chaim Strauchler questions how Jewish law might guide our consumption of violent images and videos produced by terrorist groups.
November 2, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Violence Consumed

Chaim Strauchler compares the recent discovery of an ancient stone path to modern roads that deliver people to mass-assembly sites. Based on these examples, he questions what would be required for a future aliya la-regel—and what steps would best lead us in that direction.
September 28, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Beit HaMikdash Logistics

Noting the importance of the kingship theme on Rosh Hashana, Chaim Strauchler questions how the coronation of a new king in the Court of St. James will affect our prayers this year. Relating to traditions that emphasize the participatory character of Divine kingship, he questions how kingship as an idea influences Jewish political discourse.
September 14, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: The Wish for Kings

Chaim Strauchler questions some of the fanfare within the modern Jewish wedding. Focusing on the near-universal practice of rising for the bride and groom during the procession, he questions the practice’s source and what it says about celebrity culture’s connection to religious community.
August 31, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Standing at Weddings

Siddur apps prompt Chaim Strauchler to question how new technology affects our attachment to holiness in the physical world. We designate our siddurim as sifrei kodesh – holy books; we don’t do the same for our devices. Should we?
August 17, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Kissing a Torah App

A recent study shows that house color décor influences perceived property values. How does design affect our perception of our shuls and schools as trendy and relevant or outdated and passé? This is a particular challenge for institutions whose identities are closely connected to their modernity, or alternatively, to a sense of tradition. Chaim Strauchler asks if we should be playing these color wars—and at what cost?
August 3, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Color Games

Chaim Strauchler discovers messages and questions about modern Shabbat teen culture in a new music video – this week in TRADITION Questions.
July 13, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Microcosms of Worlds

Chaim Strauchler calls for more halakhic questions on gun ownership as he discusses the emergence of Jewish gun clubs and their roots in Jewish thought—this week in Tradition Questions. 
June 22, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Gun Clubs

In this week’s Tradition Questions, Chaim Strauchler considers a failed addition to the modern kosher diet. Looking at the locust as a case study, he asks why do some new foods make it and others do not.
June 8, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: The Orthodox Omnivore

What can a mysterious item pulled from a Lakewood online auction site teach about growing wealth in American Orthodox life today? Chaim Strauchler offers a suggestion based on conversations from the TRADITION Today Summit on material success and its challenges.
May 4, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: A Gadol’s Pants

“Tradition Questions” returns with Zissy Turner’s influential inquiry into Orthodox “Influencers.” What is gained and lost with the cadre of social media mavens, mainly women, to whom large swaths of our community have granted influence? 
April 20, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Orthodox Influencers’ Influence

Does the rise of the Men's Seder suggest that Modern Orthodox men are lonely? Tzvi Sinensky answers yes, in this new TRADITIONS QUESTIONS column, arguing that alongside efforts to cultivate more entry points for women, Modern Orthodox communities must do more to meet our men's unique social and spiritual needs. 
March 9, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: The Man’s Seder

Chaim Strauchler returns to TRADITION QUESTIONS by noting the disappearance of a once-popular literary genre that celebrates individual accomplishment through the lens of Jewish collective identity. He attributes this to the growth of “more than” anti-Semitism. He questions the absence of a parallel genre through which we might collectively take responsibility for the damage caused by our co-religionists.
March 2, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: The “Jews In” Genre

Chaim Strauchler initiates the Tradition Questions Project with a reflection on the physical dimensions of Torah scrolls. They’re getting smaller. He suggests that this may be a problem: This change, while facilitating admirable popular contact with Torah scrolls, is not without halakhic problems. For our purposes it opens an array of questions, including: Who counts as an “important person”? Can such an idea persist in contemporary society? How does this trend relate to privatization of what were once communal objects (and norms)?
November 24, 2022

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Inconvenient & Convenient Torah

This week, we launch a new digital feature, TRADITION Questions. Associate Editor Chaim Strauchler introduces the column: “We hope that TRADITION Questions will gather thoughtful reflection on contemporary social phenomena within our Jewish communities with a spirit of curious introspection. These questions will spark conversations among our readers and within those communities about failures and successes, risks and opportunities.”
November 17, 2022

TRADITION Questions: Introduction

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