November 12, 2024
Published by Tradition Online at November 12, 2024
Rabbi Prof. Daniel Sperber responds to a recent review of his book “Vegetarianism, Ecology, and Business Ethics” (Urim Publications). Having seen abattoirs up close he defends his critique of contemporary kosher slaughter standards against the critique of his reviewers.
November 10, 2024
Published by Tradition Online at November 10, 2024
Writing for TRADITION, Menachem Kellner recently reviewed ArtScroll’s new anthology of Maimonidean philosophy, “Kisvei HaRambam: Writings of Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon,” and profiled “The Guide to the Perplexed: A New Translation” (Stanford University Press). With some critical reservations in place, in this podcast with Jeffrey Saks he applauds ArtScroll for a new openness to exposing its readers to Maimonides the philosopher, and praises the new translation of the Guide as an important corrective to earlier works that occluded the fact that “Rambam was also a rabbi”!
November 7, 2024
Published by Tradition Online at November 7, 2024
Chaim Strauchler questions the hermetically-sealed plastic sleeves in which hadassim and aravot are delivered. What advantages and disadvantages does pre-checking mitzvot create?
November 5, 2024
Published by Tradition Online at November 5, 2024
It’s hard to shed light on the circuitous debate surrounding the Haredi draft exemption, but Yosefa Fogel Wruble approaches the debate from the angle of another well-known “exemption”: that of women from many mitzvot, like Talmud Torah and certain time-caused commandments, which has contributed to an internal religious posture impacting the entirety of religious society. Can this parallel help explain Haredi society’s attitude toward draft exemption—and what might produce a shift?
November 3, 2024
Published by Tradition Online at November 3, 2024
You can't go home again—or can you? Tuvia Tenenbom left the insular streets of Bnei Brak for the bourgeois boulevards of Berlin. But he later decided to spend a year in Jerusalem within the cloistered and narrow alleyways of one of the city’s most reclusive Hasidic communities. Will they let him stay in their community? What will he find? Ben Rothke review’s “Careful, Beauties Ahead!,” and shares the surprises he found in its pages.
October 31, 2024
Published by Tradition Online at October 31, 2024
R. Moshe Feinstein stood as a bulwark against innovations of liberal movements, delineating the borders between acceptable and unacceptable halakhic practice. His opposition to Bat Mitzva ceremonies is an iconic case in point. In this installment of "Unpacking the Iggerot," Moshe Kurtz shows us that behind this social issue lies a fascinating debate about the nature of how R. Feinstein chose what and when he wanted the public to read from his literature.
October 28, 2024
Published by Tradition Online at October 28, 2024
As people live longer, questions about the decision-making process regarding care for the infirm and elderly have grown more prominent. A 2010 TRADITION essay by Judah Goldberg makes an invaluable contribution to our thinking on these matters. Yitzchak Blau shows how Goldberg's analysis touches on the nature of medical knowledge, the relationship between doctor and patient, the value of autonomy, and how formalistic halakha is.
October 10, 2024
Published by Tradition Online at October 10, 2024
With Yom Kippur hours away, Chaim Strauchler shares reflections on the sins of auto-correct. How does technology uniquely affect a transliterating community? What future technologies might assist and hamper the moral quest and the religious life journey?
October 7, 2024
Published by Tradition Online at October 7, 2024
With the arrival of October 7 we turn our minds back over the horrible year that has transpired. As we continue to pray for our soldiers and the immediate return of the remaining 101 hostages, revisit some of the material TRADITION has published aiming to help us make sense and find meaning in these events.