March 9, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: The Man’s Seder

Does the rise of the Men's Seder suggest that Modern Orthodox men are lonely? Tzvi Sinensky answers yes, in this new TRADITIONS QUESTIONS column, arguing that alongside efforts to cultivate more entry points for women, Modern Orthodox communities must do more to meet our men's unique social and spiritual needs. 
March 6, 2023

Purim Archives

PURIM ARCHIVES: A freilichen Purim to TRADITION readers – Enjoy these Purim pieces from our archives…
March 2, 2023

TRADITION QUESTIONS: The “Jews In” Genre

Chaim Strauchler returns to TRADITION QUESTIONS by noting the disappearance of a once-popular literary genre that celebrates individual accomplishment through the lens of Jewish collective identity. He attributes this to the growth of “more than” anti-Semitism. He questions the absence of a parallel genre through which we might collectively take responsibility for the damage caused by our co-religionists.
February 27, 2023

The Search for God in Esther

God is conspicuously absent in Esther, though He is presumed to work “behind the scenes.” Nava Finkelman considers several other biblical narratives where a character attributes some outcome to God’s intervention, and, by analogy, suggests an overlooked hidden allusion to God in Esther as well. 
February 23, 2023

Alt+SHIFT: Avraham Stav’s Pop-Culture Criticism

R. Avraham Stav offers weekly insights and moral messages we can glean from all areas of popular culture. Yitzchak Blau, a self-professed skeptic about TV’s worth, along with other aspects of popular culture, admits that he finds Stav’s mining of television and movies to be rewarding—in this week’s Alt+SHIFT. 
February 20, 2023

REVIEW: Torah Goes Forth From Zion 

Zachary Truboff’s “Torah Goes Forth From Zion: Essays on the Thought of Rav Kook & Rav Shagar” presents complex material clearly and enjoyably. Todd Berman reviews and recommends that for those seeking an entry point to the works of Rav Kook and especially Rav Shagar, but unable to access them in their original texts, Truboff’s project is highly recommended. 
February 16, 2023

Alt+SHIFT: Rav Shach as Ish HaHashkafa

Rav Shach’s long impact on Israeli Haredism, and by extension on the political culture of the State, two decades after his passing is the subject of this week’s Alt+SHIFT. Yitzchak Blau considers how the hashkafa and halakhic stances of a person intersect in shaping personality and policy.
February 12, 2023

PODCAST: R. Hildesheimer and Women’s Education

Prof. Marc B. Shapiro’s recent essay “From the Pages of TRADITION: R. Esriel Hildesheimer on Torah Study for Women” (TRADITION, Summer 2022), is the subject today's TRADITION Podcast. Shapiro joined Jeffrey Saks to discuss R. Hildesheimer’s legacy and that of 19th-century German Orthodoxy; the history of women’s Torah study; trends in Jewish education; and the intersections of Jewish history and thought.
February 9, 2023

Alt+SHIFT: A Brief History of Israeliness

Natanel Ellinson’s portrait of divisions in Israeli society suggests a rift between Yehudim (Jews) and Yisraelim (Israelis), each with its own orientation, culture, and values. In this week’s Alt+SHIFT Yitzchak Blau admits some of the diagnosis is useful but overlooks subtleties that we dare not ignore.