August 20, 2024

LETTER: Giving ArtScroll Its Due

Menachem Kellner’s recent review of books on Rambam’s philosophical works first emerging from within the right-wing and Haredi publishing houses raised a variety of issues concerning examining those works from outside the academic interpretations to which they have been subject. Yaakov Blau offers a “dispassionate critique” of Kellner and defends the methods and accomplishments of ArtScroll. 
August 18, 2024

REVIEW: Rabbis, Reporters and the Public in the Digital Holyland

In the modern State of Israel the complex relationship between religion and media is a two-way street. How well does the Hebrew press do its job when it covers Judaism? And how does the media influence religious leaders? In reviewing Yoel Cohen’s “Rabbis, Reporters and the Public in the Digital Holyland” Ari Goldman reminds us there’s another element to this relationship in the 21st century, namely the role of the public who, through social media, are very much partners in this relationship, which has gone from two-directional to triangular.
August 15, 2024

Unpacking the Iggerot: Vicarious Punishment

May a child assume the consequences of their parents’ sins? Is a child obligated to do so? In this installment of Unpacking the Iggerot, Moshe Kurtz shares a fascinating debate between Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and his contemporaries about the nature of vicarious punishment.
August 12, 2024

The Midrashic Filling of Eikha’s Void

Certain that this will provide a meaningful read for Tisha B’Av we share Dr. Yael Ziegler’s essay “The Midrashic Filling of Eikha’s Void.” This essay appeared in TRADITION’s Summer 2020 issue and subsequently in Dr. Ziegler's "Lamentations: Faith in a Turbulent World."