September 3, 2023

REVIEW: Perpetuating the Masorah

In "Perpetuating the Masorah" (Maggid Books & OU Press) we meet Rabbi Yitzhak, not Professor Isadore, Twersky—an expositor par excellence of Torat Hashem, delivering eternal wisdom to his faithful followers, not to his academic seminar room. That he could straddle these two worlds speaks volumes to his intellect and personality. Todd Berman reviews…
August 31, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: Standing at Weddings

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 28, 2023

FIELD NOTES: Material Success and Its Challenges

TRADITION recently held its first Tradition Today Summit, addressing the issue of “Material Success and its Challenges.” Orthodox life in the United States has seen increasing material success in recent decades. This has had an impact in a wide range of areas – sumptuary trends, philanthropy, career choice, institutional sustainability (e.g., the tuition crisis), social and communal gaps between haves and have-nots, and more. While many of these topics have been discussed informally, little has been written about them in a systemic and organized fashion. Here is a summary of the proceedings, which we expect to publish in an upcoming issue of the journal.
August 24, 2023

Alt+SHIFT: Prumim

Journalist Yair Ettinger’s recent book, “Prumim,” provides a window into many debates raging in today’s Dati Leumi world, including partnership minyanim, ascending the Temple Mount, LGBT issues, attitude to the Chief Rabbinate, and women enlisting in the army. Yitzchak Blau’s Alt+SHIFT column suggests the book will be particularly interesting to our readers for its analysis of parallel phenomena in American Modern Orthodoxy.