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TraditionOnline In: Tradition Online

REVIEW: Pathways to God

Rami Schwartz reviews R. Nachum Rabinovitch’s “Pathways to God” (Maggid Books), focusing on the author’s understanding of the religious significance of the State of Israel, and highlights R. Rabinovich’s rejection of messianic certainty and his denial of intrinsic religious value to Jewish sovereignty. Rather, he framed the State as an halakhic opportunity to realize the Torah’s social and national aims, while emphasizing human responsibility, prudence in interpreting history, and full participation in the public burden.

TraditionOnline In: Tradition Online

The BEST: A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland

David Farkas writes on how Samuel Johnson’s “A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland” blends travel writing with moral reflection. Johnson uses Scotland’s landscapes to explore memory, tradition, and progress. Farkas applies Johnson’s insights to visiting Israel, urging historical reflection to deepen patriotism, piety, and moral dignity.

TraditionOnline In: Tradition Online

Looking Backward: The Campus—Flux and Tension

Mervin F. Verbit revisits Norman Frimer’s prescient 1967 analysis of the Jewish campus experience, tracing how radical individualism, multiculturalism, and resurgent antisemitism continue to challenge Jewish identity today. Blending sociology, history, and communal insight, it asks how Jewish education can prepare students to engage the modern university without losing depth, confidence, or conviction.

TraditionOnline In: Tradition Online

REVIEW: Malmad HaTalmidim

Hayyim Angel reviews an annotated translation of Rabbi Yaʿaqob Anatoli’s “Malmad HaTalmidim” (Da‘at Press), a key Provencal work at the heart of the Maimonidean Controversy. Through careful translation and extensive notes, the volume revives a medieval Geonic-Andalusian vision of an intense commitment to Torah enriched by philosophy, science, and disciplined intellectual inquiry.

TraditionOnline In: Tradition Online

Unpacking the Iggerot: Aiding Agunot

After the Holocaust, thousands of women remained “chained” to vanished husbands. Moshe Kurtz explores R. Moshe Feinstein’s courageous halakhic response, using legal innovation and deep compassion to free these agunot. From post-war crises to modern prenuptial agreements, discover how the 20th century’s leading sage navigated high-stakes law to prevent personal tragedy and preserve the Jewish family.

TraditionOnline In: Tradition Online

Moses the Independent Partner

As we begin reading the Book of Exodus our minds turn to the man Moses and his job as a prophet conveying God’s message with precision. Zvi Grumet considers how that role sometimes clashes with Moses’ position as a teacher par excellence. While Moses is identified as the greatest of prophets, the appellation ascribed to him in Rabbinic tradition is Rabbeinu, our teacher—how can these roles be reconciled?

TraditionOnline In: Tradition Online

REVIEW: The Jewish Experience

Mark Wildes founded the Manhattan Jewish Experience as a Modern Orthodox kiruv organization. With his recent book, “The Jewish Experience” (Maggid Books) he seeks to share his approach with a new generation of rabbis and seekers. Does Wildes’ style of experiential outreach hold up after two decades? Steven Gotlib reviews the book in light of broader trends in outreach and religious apologetics.

TraditionOnline In: Tradition Online

The BEST: Caps for Sale

Ilana Kurshan convinces us that the children’s classic “Caps for Sale” by Esphyr Slobodkina is among “The BEST”: Its message delivered at countless bedtimes resonates with our tradition from the Ben Ish Hai to the “mimetic tradition,” and reminds us that the experience of reading to our kids is a sacred mimicry of our parents having read to us, and back through the chain of mesora.