November 30, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at November 30, 2021
In “In Praise of Peshara,” R. Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg zt”l, outlines the many practical advantages of deciding Beit Din cases according to principles of equity or compromise, and not simply according to strict halakha (din). This essay is an excellent introduction to understand R. Zalman Nechemiah’s halakhic thought and offers insight to the mind of one of our generation’s most significant halakhists. In this episode of the TRADITION Podcast R. Yona Reiss and R. Daniel Z. Feldman discuss the article, unpack its ideas, and enable greater understanding of the issues.
November 28, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at November 28, 2021
R. Gedalia Dov Schwartz zt"l, late Av Beit Din of the Beit Din of America, and a mentor to the American rabbinate at large, led a God-centered life and inspired us to strive for one as well. Hanan Balk shares memories of R. Schwartz on his first yahrzeit, observed today.
November 25, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at November 25, 2021
This post is about Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice's Restaurant,” and it's about Arlo, and the Restaurant, but "Alice's Restaurant" is not about a restaurant. Instead, Rina Chaya Shamilov connects the Thanksgiving folk music classic to the Pesach story, charts a journey through its music, and questions finding a method for confronting injustice without anger. This Thanksgiving in “The BEST.”
November 23, 2021
Published by Jeffrey Saks at November 23, 2021
How Colorful Was Joseph’s Coat? Though many assume Jacob's gift to Joseph was “a coat of many colors,” a study of classical commentators and midrashic traditions reveals a spectrum of alternative interpretations. Analyzing these offers deeper insight into why it upset Joseph’s brothers to such a degree that they would plot to kill him! Sarah Rudolph explores...
November 22, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at November 22, 2021
Rabbinic biographies are often thinly disguised hagiographies designed to “inspire.” In reviewing two recent books that buck this trend, Zev Eleff shows how the biographies of R. Yudel Rosenberg and R. Herschel Schacter ask profound—and in their own way “inspiring”—questions about leading a Modern Orthodox life and leadership in Modern Orthodoxy.
November 18, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at November 18, 2021
The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik is an erudite polymath, and his elegant essays are a source of astute acumen, offering valuable insight and a model of superb writing. Yitzchak Blau’s offers a reader’s guide in this week’s “The BEST.”
November 16, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at November 16, 2021
What was life like for little Dina in the household of Jacob? What exactly was she seeking when she embarked on her excursion? What actually happened to Dina that day? After Dina was saved, what happened to her? Dan Jacobson considers these questions in offering a new understanding of the Dina story which sheds light not only on the Biblical text but also on the experience of sexual abuse victims through the ages.
November 14, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at November 14, 2021
The TRADITION Podcast explores Rabbi Norman Lamm’s energetic rabbinic leadership and his message and challenge to his rabbinic colleagues and students. Guests R. Menachem Penner and R. Benjamin Samuels chat with our editor R. Jeffrey Saks about their contributions to the recent “Rabbi Lamm Memorial Volume.”
November 11, 2021
Published by Tradition Online at November 11, 2021
In which “Squid Game” reminds our editor, Jeffrey Saks, of a more worthy exploration of how shockingly easily humanity can become degraded – Primo Levi’s remarkable work of incredible moral power, “Survival in Auschwitz,” in this week’s “The BEST.”