In the area of Jewish medical ethics brain death is the topic which just will not die. No other rabbinic figure’s opinion has factored in quite so significantly on the subject as R. Moshe Feinstein zt”l. However his position has been intensely debated over the years. In a recent piece of research which surfaces some relevant new points of evidence, Dr. Noam Stadlan offers a re-understanding of R. Feinstein’s ruling, with various implications for end-of-life care and organ donation. In this episode of the Tradition Podcast, Stadlan joins our editor, Jeffrey Saks, to discuss the article, as well as larger trends in the field of Jewish medical ethics, the partnership that should exist between physicians and medical research on one hand with poskim on the other, and why our readers are perennially interested in the field of medical halakha.

The Tradition Podcast discusses Gidon Rothstein’s thoughtful and sensitive review of Elisha Aviner’s “Dor Tahpukhot” and its advice to parents whose children have left the fold. Joining Jeffrey Saks to discuss the issue, Rothstein considers the book’s very specifically Israeli focus, and how its lessons might be adapted – or not – for an American audience.

Michael Eisenberg recently discussed his Tradition Today Summit essay with Yaakov Wolff at the Shtark Tank podcast. The essay and conversation center on Eisenberg’s concept of “Covenantal Capitalism” and how Jewish values have shaped his career and investing. They also discuss ways in which Torah concepts concerning economic values are best, perhaps only, able to be implemented in modern Israel. Listen to this cross-posted conversation.

TRADITION’s most recent issue features a special section with short reflective essays on the events of October 7th and the ongoing war in Israel. In this episode, two of those authors meet to discuss the topics touched on in those very personal pieces of writing. Chaim Strauchler engages with Alex S. Ozar, who serves as a rabbi with the Orthodox Union’s JLIC and the Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale University. Alex’s essay, “War in Israel, in New Haven” captures the raw emotions, trauma, and fear of last Simhat Torah. He wonders: Is the Golden Age of American Jewry, in fact, over? He shares reflections on the Jewish experience on the Yale campus over the past number of months and what that experience says about the future of American Jewry. Amidst many frightening anecdotes, he communicates optimism about his students and the prospects for future Jewish success.