July 26, 2021
Published by TraditionOnline at July 26, 2021
To commemorate today's first yahrzeit of Rav Steinsaltz zt”l TRADITION republishes these tributes penned by Rabbi David Rozenson and Prof. David Berger. How did R. Steinsaltz, one of the most prolific and preeminent rabbis of our generation, come to play a key role in the revitalization of Soviet Jewry in Gorbachev's Russia? The true background to this part of his life, and his involvement in the astonishing Jewish renaissance behind the Iron Curtain, is little-known and has been under-reported.
July 25, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at July 25, 2021
In advance of R. Steinsaltz’s first yahrzeit, Marina Zilbergerts pays tribute to the great scholar and teacher by leading us through some of the insights in his recent commentary to Avot. Steinsaltz’s “wide-ranging glosses on the nature of wisdom, intellectual achievement, human relationships, virtue, and government, among other topics, show how Avot explores the problems faced by the individual as a moral agent in a world where knowledge is readily available but wisdom is hard to come by.”
July 22, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at July 22, 2021
Rene Girard argues that sacrifice channels violence into a sacred moment. A surrogate victim is chosen allowing a moment of deep catharsis. In this week’s “The BEST” Zissy Turner sees in “Violence and the Sacred” a framework within which to guide her student’s response to anti-Semitism.
July 19, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at July 19, 2021
Moshe Sokol’s new book, “The Snake at the Mouth of the Cave” offers new readings of Talmudic aggadot. Yitzchak Blau reviews…
July 15, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at July 15, 2021
Peter L. Berger provides sociological language to explain the dangers of being a cognitive minority in an open society. Mijal Bitton explains that Berger’s “A Rumor of Angels” is “The Best,” because it offers methods by which religious believers might push back within a secular, intellectual world.
July 12, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at July 12, 2021
TRADITION congratulates our editorial board member, Prof. David Shatz, on the publication of “The Torah U-Madda Journal,” vol. 18, the final issue to appear under his distinguished 21-year editorship of the journal.
July 11, 2021
Published by TraditionOnline at July 11, 2021
Certain that this will provide a meaningful read this week of Tisha B’Av we share Dr. Yael Ziegler’s essay “The Midrashic Filling of Eikha’s Void.” This essay originally appeared in TRADITION’s Summer 2020 issue and has now been collected in Dr. Ziegler's "Lamentations: Faith in a Turbulent World" (Maggid Books).
July 8, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at July 8, 2021
Rousseau’s “Social Contract” does not alienate the individual’s power of self-government, but preserves it in elevated form. Society forms not to avoid violence, but so that individuals can better meet the challenges of living through collaboration, innovation, and shared knowledge. It’s Rabbi Sacks’ concept of a politics of “We instead of Me” writes Isaac Fried in this week’s The BEST.
July 6, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at July 6, 2021
Yaakov Blau presents a “sugya approach” to offer a richer view of Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh’s fate—the story of a towering figure of talmudic creativity who ultimately forgot his learning.