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?

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.

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.

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.