January 19, 2025

Vaxxers & Anti-Vaxxers

As we approach the five-year mark since the initial COVID lockdown, TRADITION has published Rav J. David Bleich’s essay on “Vaxxers and Anti-Vaxxers” in his “Survey of Recent Halakhic Literature” column (available open access for a limited time at TraditionOnline.org). 
January 16, 2025

Unpacking the Iggerot: Cheating, College & Culture

In 1980, R. Moshe Feinstein issued a harsh condemnation against cheating on the New York State Regents exam. While the question of cheating was immediately put to rest, what remained less clear was his general approach to secular studies. In this column, Moshe Kurtz explores R. Feinstein’s complicated opinions on college, medical study, and more.
January 14, 2025

REVIEW: Becoming a Redeemer

A new Hebrew book by Nahal Elgad Binyamin Shoham, “Becoming a Redeemer” (Har Bracha), delves into teachings of the Rebbes of Ruzhin, emphasizing the deep connection between Hasidism and Zionism. Yehuda Brandes reviews, asking what the message of those Rebbes nearly a century ago might mean for our own contemporary religious identity.
January 12, 2025

New and Noteworthy Books

TRADITION’s seasonal roundup of noteworthy new titles in Jewish studies and learning, with offerings on halakha and mental health, peshat and aggada, and definitive new histories of Jewish Provence, the medieval Jewish wine trade, the Soviet dissident movement, and more…