A half-century ago the Jewish world found itself in a situation not terribly dissimilar from our own. War arrived brutally and by surprise on an Autumn Yom Tov. Writing in the pages of TRADITION following the war, Rabbi A.H. Rabinowitz, Chief Rabbi of the Air Force, asked “Why Yom Kippur?”—aside from Egyptian tactical strategy and hope for surprise, what was the spiritual meaning of the State being attacked on our holy day?

In reviewing a special issue on War in Jewish thought (TRADITION, Winter 2006), Yitzchak Blau draws to our attention material from our journal’s archive. This collection of essays remains sadly appropriate to the current moment, and we hope it will help frame your thinking about the traumas we have experienced these past two weeks as we pray that the IDF proves successful in defeating our enemies.

At this writing, ten days into the war, the initial shock, horror, and trauma have in no way abated and all thoughts are on the “matzav”—a most abnormal situation. TRADITION’s editor, Jeffrey Saks, writing from Israel, considers the challenges for our religious community, the heartening reality of Jewish unity, and some sharp questions it poses for our way forward.

Join TRADITION and the Rabbinical Council of America for a Zoom event bringing together authors from our recent special issue on “The Yom Kippur War After 50 Years” as they discuss insights from their contributions to our pages and the sudden, tragic timeliness of that issue for events unfolding in Israel. Tuesday Oct. 10 at 1PM (Eastern) / 8PM (Israel).

Reflecting on what he wrote 25 years ago in TRADITION’s “Sea Change in American Orthodoxy” symposium, Prof. Samuel Heilman assesses what he got right about the slide to the right, trends he did not anticipate, some ironic alignments, and unfortunate ways that the Haredi community is more compartmentalized than Modern Orthodoxy.

While we marked the 50th year since the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War last week, it is important to recall that hostilities lasted almost three weeks until the ceasefire, and that soldiers remained stationed on the Syrian and Egyptian borders for many months thereafter. TRADITION’s recent issue on this half-century milestone since the 1973 war was put to good use during the Yamim Noraim; various rabbis report that they made use of its content in their sermons and teaching, and we are pleased to share this sensitive sermon delivered by R. Mayer Waxman before Yizkor on Yom Kippur in the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates.

Thinking about work, the great resignation. or your empty office building? Erica Brown opens Ecclesiastes for perspectives on the limits of work and what we seek to gain from our professional lives in the first place. Read more on Kohelet and quiet quitting in advance of Sukkot.