September 23, 2021

R. Ahron Soloveichik: Reflections of a Talmid

Timed with the 20th yahrzeit of R. Ahron Soloveichik zt”l, his talmid Joshua Rudoff recalls his rebbe’s awe-inspiring efforts to spread Torah, despite the ravages his body had experienced through a debilitating stroke, and the transformative power of his teaching on master and disciples alike.
September 20, 2021

Simhat Beit HaSho’eva

The nights of Sukkot were celebrated in the Temple with song and dance in a celebration known as Simhat Beit HaSho’eva. Yakov Nagen argues that these celebrations and ceremonies are in fact a rededication of the Temple and a reenactment of events leading to the dedication of the First Temple by David and Solomon.
September 19, 2021

Hoshana Rabbah with R. Lamm at Rinat

Join Congregation Rinat Yisrael of Teaneck, NJ, for a special Tikkun Leyl Hoshana Rabbah remembering the legacy of Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm z"l, and celebrating the publication of TRADITION's “Rabbi Lamm Memorial Volume.” Sunday, September 26 at 8:00 p.m. EDT on ZOOM.
September 14, 2021

Yom Kippur and the Roll of the Dice

The goral (casting of lots) takes a central role on Yom Kippur – from the method the high priest used to select which goat should be sent to the desert, to the sailors’ use of goral to determine that Jonah was the cause of the storm. Some think goral reveals a divine truth, but David Curwin presents another perspective in which the goral is actually a random role of the dice which allows us to achieve our spiritual goals for the holiest of days.
September 13, 2021

AUDIO EDITOR’S NOTE: Excavating the Thought of Rabbi Lamm

In this installment of the TRADITION Podcast we present an audio editor’s column with Rabbi Jeffrey Saks’ essay, “A Man of All Spirits: Excavating the Thought of Rabbi Lamm,” read by the author. This is the introductory essay in TRADITION’s recently released “Rabbi Norman Lamm Memorial Volume.”
September 9, 2021

The BEST: The Little Prince

The Melekh HaKadosh and the Little Prince: Chaim Strauchler writes on “The Little Prince” for The BEST. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry uses a children’s story to speak to adults about human pretension and the pursuit of life’s ultimate meaning. His insights into the connection between friendship and ritual serve the religious reader well, especially during the High Holiday “taming” season.
September 6, 2021

Psalm 51: The Song of Repentance

In reading the account of Kind David’s repentance through the prism of Psalm 51—"The Song of Repentance”—Judith Bleich offers lessons of teshuva and the manner in which we should engage in the repentance process with contrition, sincerity, and humbled hearts.
September 5, 2021

Rav Kook’s “Shabbat Haaretz”

With the arrival this week of the shemitta year our minds turned to the variety of once-in-7-year halakhot we must review, whether we dwell in Zion or abroad. However, Rav Kook urged us to view shemitta as enabling a renewed connection to the divine life-force in each individual and within humanity as a whole. His teachings are presented and explored in a new, English edition of “Shabbat Ha’aretz” prepared by Yedidya Sinclair.
September 2, 2021

2021 High Holiday Reader

TRADITION shares this year’s High Holiday Reader dedicated to the thought of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l. Rosh Hashana is a time to think broadly of Hashem’s world and our place within it and Rabbi Sacks’ model is a most worthwhile framework for such thinking. In these pages you will encounter our writers presenting “The BEST” that has been thought and said in a wide array of cultural objects, and understand how their consumption is potentially profitable to us as thinking, spiritual and religious beings.