April 10, 2025
Published by Tradition Online at April 10, 2025
What brought about the moment of redemption from Egypt? Exodus 12 has the Israelites hastily preparing to leave—the display of their eagerness seemingly the necessary prerequisite for their freedom—while God passes-over above, busy with the slaying of Egyptian firstborn sons. The midrash, however, suggests that God, too, was acting with haste, eager to bring about the redemption. Ilana Goldstein Saks shows how Rashi’s interpretation offers a creative reworking of the midrash which both incorporates the midrash and remains true to the meaning of the biblical text, and gets to the very heart of the meaning of the holiday of Passover.
April 10, 2025
Published by Tradition Online at April 10, 2025
Was R. Moshe Feinstein a posek with a predisposition to dispensing lenient halakhic rulings? Moshe Kurtz argues that by looking at a sampling of his landmark Shabbat responsa we may be left with a very different impression of how R. Feinstein approached the world of contemporary halakha.
April 7, 2025
Published by Tradition Online at April 7, 2025
Any new book by Marc Shapiro naturally elicits enthusiasm, given his role as one of Jewish Studies’ most erudite scholars. His most recent offering, “Renewing the Old, Sanctifying the New: The Unique Vision of Rav Kook “ (Littman Library) demonstrates how Rav Kook’s theological vision might contribute to contemporary Jewish thought. Yoel Finkelman reviews….
April 3, 2025
Published by Tradition Online at April 3, 2025
With Passover around the corner our minds are on the many preparations required to join our families around the Seder Table—and yet, who can forget the events of five years ago, when so many of us were isolated, locked-down, sheltering in place during that COVID Pesach of 2020. We’re pleased to share this episode of Moshe Kurtz’s “Shu”t First, Ask Questions Later” podcast, examining the COVID Zoom Seder controversy. Kurtz is joined by Yehuda Halpert, who takes us back to the pandemic halakhic literature, identifies important topics that the Jewish world wrestled with during those unprecedented days, and shows how those questions are still resonant for Jewish practice in 2025.
April 1, 2025
Published by Tradition Online at April 1, 2025
On this day 100 years ago, the Hebrew University was formally inaugurated on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. The event opened with an invocation delivered by Rav Kook. His courageous message minced no words about his true feelings regarding the Hebrew University and its place in the life of a revitalized Jewish yishuv in the Land of Israel. Revisit Shnayer Z. Leiman’s presentation of that speech in our “From the Pages of Tradition” column (Fall 1994).
March 30, 2025
Published by Tradition Online at March 30, 2025
The vagaries of the Jewish lunar calendar are such that erev Pesach coincides with Shabbat infrequently and with an irregular pattern. This year 5785 (2025) is one such occasion, giving rise to sundry halakhic complications. In advance of the alignment of Pesach following Shabbat in 1974 for the first time in two decades, Rabbi J. David Bleich offered guidance to our readers in his “Survey of Recent Halakhic Periodical Literature” column. Revisit the article and download his updated guide published for this year.
March 27, 2025
Published by Tradition Online at March 27, 2025
In this week’s Unpacking the Iggerot, Moshe Kurtz explores R. Moshe Feinstein’s opinions on male-female interactions by surveying his responsa on shidduchim, platonic relationships, co-education and more. It all begins with an eyebrow-raising question: Can someone steal a shidduch?
March 25, 2025
Published by Tradition Online at March 25, 2025
Tomorrow (March 26), the Jewish world marks Sarah Schenirer’s 90th yahrzeit. Sample relevant content in the TRADITION Archives which shows how the Bais Yaakov movement's revolutionary achievements were how they rewrote the script for Jewish girlhood, and prescribed that Orthodox primary education, including in Torah studies, was to be the standard experience.
March 20, 2025
Published by Tradition Online at March 20, 2025
“You may already be the winner of one million dollars!” In this week’s TRADITION Questions, Chaim Strauchler explains how your ability to determine the spending of 1 billion dollars differs from the old Publisher Clearing House Sweepstakes. He finds meaning in what this odd election for the World Zionist Congress says about the history of Zionism and modern Jewish identity.