As the Jewish world prepares to mark the 4th yahrzeit of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks zt"l tomorrow, 20 Marheshvan (Thursday, November 21) we republish Dr. David Shatz's insightful testimonial to the impact of R. Sacks as an original Orthodox thinker. During those dark days of Covid when we lost R. Sacks' important voice, TRADITION offered a variety of content memorializing him and exploring his teachings. See the links appended to this post to review those items, and visit the Rabbi Sacks Legacy site to participate in the Global Day of Learning.

To commemorate today's fourth yahrzeit of Rav Steinsaltz zt”l TRADITION republishes these tributes penned by Rabbi David Rozenson and Prof. David Berger. How did R. Steinsaltz, one of the most prolific and preeminent rabbis of our generation, come to play a key role in the revitalization of Soviet Jewry in Gorbachev's Russia? The true background to this part of his life, and his involvement in the astonishing Jewish renaissance behind the Iron Curtain, is little-known and has been under-reported.

Certain that this will provide a meaningful read for Tisha B’Av we share Dr. Yael Ziegler’s essay “The Midrashic Filling of Eikha’s Void.” This essay appeared in TRADITION’s Summer 2020 issue and subsequently in Dr. Ziegler's "Lamentations: Faith in a Turbulent World." 

In this TRADITION classic from our archives: Prof. Gerald Blidstein z"l offers possible explanations for Hazal’s suppression of the Jewish Hellenizers in the Hanukka story. Neither the Talmud nor the holiday prayers make reference to them even though the Book of Macabbees portrays Jewish Hellenizers as central to the story. Blidstein offers several tentative explanations for this omission including the possibility that Hazal did not want us to celebrate a civil war.