Tradition Podcast

TRADITION's subscribers have already received our special Spring 2025 issue, containing content commemorating R. Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l, timed with his 10th yahrzeit marked this month. Five years ago we were pleased to publish Rabbanit Tonya Mittelman's essay, “Women in the Torah World in the Thought of Rabbi Lichtenstein” (Summer 2020). Toni, a distinguished educator, is a daughter of R. Lichtenstein. In this episode of our podcast, Mali Brofsky talks with Mittelman, who shares insights from her father’s career, as well as her own experiences as an educator, regarding women’s participation in high-level Jewish learning and religious practice. She emphasizes that her father's endorsement of women's learning was rooted in his deep trust in both Torah and in women, explaining that he believed women and men have similar spiritual needs in this regard. The conversation explores the challenges and opportunities in providing comprehensive Jewish education for women, as well as their practice of mitzvot, with Toni emphasizing that her biggest challenge as an educator is transforming her students from passive to active participants in halakhic education and practice. Regarding religious practice, Mittelman notes that women should maximize participation wherever possible. On the question of the frustration often experienced by women in these areas, she asserts that there remains a difference between men and women in some religious contexts, that this reality should be openly discussed, and that women should trust the system, pointing out that these challenges are part of a broader set of life demands experienced by men and women alike. The discussion concludes by encouraging further progress in women’s religious participation while acknowledging the ongoing tensions within the traditional religious framework. Watch a video recording of the conversation. Tonya Mittelman is the Principal of Ulpanat Tzvia Sdot Negev. Mali Brofsky, a member of TRADITION's editorial board, is a senior faculty member at MMY and a social worker in private practice.The post R. Lichtenstein on Women's Torah Study first appeared on Tradition Online.

This episode of the Tradition Podcast is being released on Rosh Hodesh Iyar, the tenth yahrzeit of Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l. In eulogizing his father-in-law, Rabbi Soloveitchik, R. Lichtenstein observed that the Rav was a “sui generis sage—he bestrode American Orthodoxy like a colossus, transcending many of its internal fissures.” Such could be said about R. Lichtenstein himself, expanding the width of the colossus' stance to include religious life in Israel as well, where he made his home as Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion for over 40 years. TRADITION's recently released Spring 2025 contains a section of essays exploring R. Lichtenstein's teachings and thought – and is a complement to our special enlarged winter 2014 issue dedicated to R. Lichtenstein as well (a volume planned as a tribute but whose timing very shortly before his passing meant it was received by our readers as a memorial volume). That issue, guest edited by Yitzchak Blau, Alan Jotkowitz, and Reuven Ziegler, is available in our open-access archives. Now, a decade later, we bring you a never-before published essay by R. Lichtenstein, “Relevance and Reverence” (open access), exploring some of the challenges in Jewish education at the time he first delivered the ideas as a talk in 1984 – and analyzed by Michael S. Berger, Dean of Yeshiva University's Azrieli Graduate School of Education, who writes on the ongoing relevance of “Relevance and Reverence.” In this episode, we talk with Berger about the topics raised in the two essays. Later in the episode we hear from Shlomo Zuckier about his contribution to the volume, revisiting R. Lichtenstein's classic essay, “Does Jewish Tradition Recognize an Ethic Independent of Halakha?” Zuckier, a research associate at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and consulting editor at TRADITION, penned an impressive and sweeping survey of the impact and reception of “Ethic Independent,” which originally appeared 50 years ago. Watch a video version of the recording. Subscribers can access all the content in this new issue at TraditionOnline.org or enjoy the print copy which should be arriving in post boxes in the coming days. In our open-access archives you can find all of R. Lichtenstein's many contributions to TRADITION over the years.The post Rav Lichtenstein's Legacy first appeared on Tradition Online.

Readers of TraditionOnline.org have been following our week-long series COVID+5,where we've been exploring the lasting impact of the pandemic on Jewish education, communal life, and spirituality. Through the insights and reflections of a diverse group of authors we've considered how COVID reshaped our synagogues, our communal celebrations, our Yeshiva high school and elementary schools, and our relationship with God and each other. In this episode of our podcast, the guest editor of that series, R. Yehuda Halpert, conducts a reflective conversation on the changes that have occurred in this past half-decade in our religious and educational institutions, communal trust, as well as the emotional and spiritual struggles experienced by individuals during the pandemic. He talks with the six authors in the series, all of whom draw on their experiences as mental health professionals, educators, administrators, and spiritual leaders to look back on the Spring of 2020, and to consider where we're holding now. Read the series introduction and all the columns here. In the first segment of this episode we hear from Gila Muskin Block, executive director and co-founder Yesh Tikva, an organization dedicated to working with couples navigating the challenges of infertility, and Dr. Carl Hochhauser a pediatric psychologist who is also on the counselling and teaching staff at Yeshivat HaKotel. Together they focus on the emotional and spiritual struggles experienced by individuals during the pandemic. The episode then transitions from the individual to the communal, focusing on our schools, synagogues, and the broader Jewish community, as we're joined by Rabbis Josh Kahn (Torah Academy of Bergen County), Daniel Korobkin (BAYT, Toronto), Leonard Matanky (Congregation K.I.N.S. of West Rogers Park, and Dean of Ida Crown Jewish Academy) and Larry Rothwachs (Beth Aaron, Teaneck). The participants revisit aspects of the COVID pandemic and its post-pandemic consequences all the while challenging and sharpening each other's formulations and conclusions. Watch a video recording of the conversations. TRADITION thanks Yehuda Halpert for initiating this project. Explore more on these themes in his recent book, Speaking to an Empty Shul: Timeless Lessons from Unprecedented Times, a rabbinic diary describing his time leading Cong. Ahavat Shalom in Teaneck throughout the pandemic years.

With Passover around the corner our minds are on the many preparations required to join our families around the Seder Table—and yet, who can forget the events of five years ago, when so many of us were isolated, locked-down, sheltering in place during that COVID Pesach of 2020. We're pleased to share this episode of R. Moshe Kurtz's “Shu”t First, Ask Questions Later” podcast, examining the COVID Zoom Seder controversy. Kurtz is joined by R. Yehuda Halpert, who takes us back to the pandemic halakhic literature, identifies important topics that the Jewish world wrestled with during those unprecedented days, and shows how those questions are still resonant for Jewish practice in 2025. Readers of TraditionOnline.org know Moshe Kurtz as the author of our “Unpacking the Iggerot” series, exploring the responsa of R. Moshe Feinstein zt”l. His “Shu”t First, Ask Questions Later” podcast can be found at Spotify and all other platforms—search it out and subscribe now. It's an engaging weekly discussion about response literature and fascinating halakhic curiosities; it has also hosted many of TRADITION's regular authors. Stay tuned! Yehuda Halpert will be returning to TraditionOnline right after Pesach as the guest editor of a series on COVID+5, in which rabbis, educators, mental health professionals, and communal leaders will be sharing with us their takes on how the landscape has changed in the half-decade since the pandemic, what we got right and what we got wrong, and some of the enduring lessons and challenges of that time on the Jewish world. Yehuda Halpert is Rabbi of Congregation Ahavat Shalom in Teaneck, NJ, and is an attorney and tax counsel at Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP. Moshe Kurtz serves as the Assistant Rabbi of Agudath Sholom in Stamford, CT, and is the author of Challenging Assumptions.

In this episode of the Tradition Podcast, our associate editor Yitzchak Blau interviews author, researcher, and Makor Rishon columnist Yair Sheleg about his recent Hebrew book HaHut HaMeshulash, whose English title might be offered as The Triple Chord: A Short History of Religious Zionism (Kinneret-Zmora, 2024). Rav Kook believed that Religious Zionism combines elements of religion, nationalism, and liberalism. In HaHut HaMeshulash Sheleg asks if contemporary Religious Zionism has remained loyal to this triple mission. If not, why not—and where has it fallen short? Blau and Sheleg also discuss the relationship between American Modern Orthodoxy and Israeli Religious Zionism—how do they overlap and how do they differ? Sheleg's had published an essay at TraditionOnline before the book appeared that outlined his basic thesis; Blau had reviewed Sheleg's book when it was published a few months ago as part of his fascinating Alt+Shift series (he also reviewed Sheleg's earlier work on Hardalim, or Ultra-Orthodox Zionism).

In this episode of the TRADITION Podcast, Mali Brofsky and Mark Smilowitz discuss the central thesis of his recent essay, “Esther and the Spies: A Bible-Based Symbolic Meaning of Walled Cities from the Time of Joshua” which appeared in our Fall 2024 issue and is now open access at TraditonOnline.org. Smilowitz explains how, through an analysis of the textual connection between the walled cities in the time of Joshua and those in the Purim story, he has uncovered a message about how the Jewish nation is enjoined to move from fear to courage through our connection to faith during times of crisis. The two discuss the importance of reading halakhic and traditional texts with an eye toward understanding their deeper philosophical, theological, and ethical messages, and also consider the significance of Smilowitz's message regarding faith and meaning, how we see this experience reflected in our own time, and how it can serve as a source of support during the great challenges facing us today. Mali Brofsky, MSW, a member of TRADITION's editorial board, is a senior faculty member at MMY and a social worker in private practice; Rabbi Mark Smilowitz, a veteran educator in Israel and the United States, recently completed a doctorate on the thought of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik at Hebrew University. Read “Esther and the Spies” at TraditionOnline.org. Halakha mandates a separate date for Purim for cities that had walls during the era of Joshua. Commentators have been puzzled by the selection of the era of Joshua in particular, as opposed to other, more obvious choices (such as the period of the Purim story itself). The Talmud points to a source which seems to rely on a mere technicality without providing a satisfying thematic connection between Joshua and Esther. Smilowitz's essay probes the broader context of source through an exploration of the early chapters of Deuteronomy alongside the story of the sin of the spies in order to demonstrate a thematic parallel between the development of the faith of Esther and the development of the faith of the Jewish people over time, from the sin of the spies through the conquering of walled cities in Canaan under Joshua's leadership. The article argues that the halakha about walled cities in the time of Joshua is meant to point to this particular message about the dynamism of faith as illustrated by those two stories. Watch a video recording of the conversation.

What is the purpose of forgiveness? How necessary is it to maintain working social order – within the body politic or within the smaller circles of religious community or family? Is forgiveness the work and responsibility of the offender (to seek it) or the offended party (to willfully grant it)? We live with these issues daily, often struggling with them in the messiness and complexity of human relationships, and while we're aware of the halakhic and philosophical writings that circle the topic, how often do we let them penetrate our actual behavior? In a remarkable new essay appearing in TRADITION (Fall 2024), Neti Penstein explores the interplay of halakhic sources in the writings of Maimonides, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and others, and brings her analysis of that wisdom to bear in puzzling out and offering a solution to a particular 50-year-old paradox first presented by the philosopher Aurel Kolnai (1900-1973). Penstein's work reminds us of the Rav's closing remark in “The Halakhic Mind”: “Out of the sources of Halakhah, a new worldview awaits formulation,” and her essay collapses the barrier between halakhic sources and philosophical insights. Read “Forgiveness: A Philosophical Analysis of the Halakhic Sources” TRADITION (Fall 2024). Neti Penstein is a graduate of Princeton University, where she studied philosophy. She is currently completing an MA in Jewish Philosophy at Yeshiva University's Bernard Revel Graduate School and is studying in its Graduate Program in Advanced Talmud Studies. In this episode of the Tradition Podcast she joins TRADITION's editor, Jeffrey Saks, to discuss her work, her assessment of philosophical thinking in today's Modern Orthodox community, and why, if done correctly, there's nothing more practical than philosophical thinking for our actual lived experience.

R. Jonathan Sacks observed that “Jews have survived catastrophe after catastrophe, in a way unparalleled by any other culture. In each case, they did more than survive. Every tragedy in Jewish history was followed by a new wave of creativity.” Even at this early date, we have begun to witness the emergence of creative responses to the events of Simchat Torah 2023 and its long aftermath. That some of the more significant products have been delivered from within our own Orthodox community, both in Israel and abroad, makes these works especially worthy of our attention, and this week TraditionOnline ran a series of excerpts from three new books that have been written and published from within the fog of war; each aiming to offer religious insight and respond to the traumas of our collective Jewish experiences since Simchat Torah 2023. In this podcast we chat with those three authors about their writing, the challenge of responding “from the gut” in real time, and how powerful and responsive works of this nature impact in their moment and resonate across the years. Our guests are: Erica Brown, “Morning Has Broken: Faith After October 7th” (Toby Press). Rachel Sharansky Danziger discussing the tefillot she contributed to “Az Nashir—We Will Sing Again: Women's Prayers for Our Time of Need,” compiled and edited by Shira Lankin Sheps, Rachel Sharansky Danziger, and Anne Gordon (Shvilli Center). Moshe Taragin, “Dark Clouds Above, Faith Below” (Yeshivat Har Etzion & Kodesh Press). As many readers and listeners know, the son of R. Moshe and Atara Taragin was badly wounded in Lebanon. Please pray for Noam Avraham ben Atara Shlomit along with all of Israel's soldiers, citizens, and the entirety of the Jewish people.

TRADITION's Summer 2024 issue contained expanded book review coverage including a review by Menachem Kellner of ArtScroll's new anthology of Maimonidean philosophy, Kisvei HaRambam: Writings of Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon – The Rambam, translated, annotated, and elucidated by R. Yehuda Meir Keilson. For TraditionOnline Kellner profiled The Guide to the Perplexed: A New Translation, translated and with a commentary by Lenn E. Goodman and Philip I. Lieberman (Stanford University Press), claiming it is destined to become the new standard for all engagement with the Guide in English. Throughout much of his academic career Kellner has been reminding the academic community that Rambam was also a rabbi, drawing profoundly on the rabbinic literature and embodying and promoting halakhic commitment. In the opposite direction, he hopes that more traditional audiences will increase their awareness of Maimonides as a thinker deeply rooted in the Arabic philosophical language and tradition of his day. With critical reservations in place, he draws our attention to these works under review as exemplars of positive movement on these fronts. In this podcast conversation Kellner joins our editor Jeffrey Saks to discuss these books and his reviews, and the two go off on a tangent about how he got into this business in the first place (and the impact of his move to Israel in 1980 had on the shape of his academic interests and desire to communicate his positions to a larger Jewish and general audience outside of the ivory tower). Menachem Kellner is Wolfson Professor Emeritus of Jewish Thought at the University of Haifa and founding chair of Shalem College's Department of Philosophy and Jewish Thought.

TRADITION and the Rabbinical Council of America recently hosted R. Mosheh Lichtenstein, Rosh Yeshivat Har Etzion, for a conversation revisiting a classic essay from our archives: R. Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l, “The Ideology of Hesder” (TRADITION, Fall 1981), using it as a lens to explore contemporary issues in Israeli religious and civilian life and society and the particular challenges of the current war. Introduction: R. Menachem Penner, Executive Vice-President, RCA Moderator: R. Jeffrey Saks, Editor, TRADITION Together we considered the complex relationship between yeshiva study and army service embodied by the Hesder movement; how the 40 years since the original essay's publication may have strengthened or weakened its message; what is the ideal role for Religious Zionism to play in Israel's contentious present moment and how we have grown simultaneously closer and further from those on our left and it right; how do we assess trends on the scene such as the rise of the Mekhinot, and the ongoing and current strife surrounding the Haredi military exemption and draft. R. Lichtenstein spoke candidly and personally about the traumas of this year, and the sacrifice of the lives of numerous precious students. Watch a video recording of the event.

TRADITION's recent Summer 2024 issue contained expanded book review coverage including a review by Yitzhak Blau on Gila Fine's new “The Madwoman in the Rabbi's Attic: Rereading the Women of the Talmud” (Maggid Books & Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies). Blau says this book carries the rare distinction of breaking new ground in two very different fields: the rabbinic view of women and the tools of aggadic interpretation. While some scholars see Hazal as holding an almost uniformly negative attitude toward women, and others fail to acknowledge any conflicts between the rabbinic tradition and contemporary sensibilities, Blau suggests Fine presents a more balanced outlook. We thought it would be instructive to bring the author and the reviewer (himself an accomplished interpreter of rabbinic aggada) together for a conversation. They discuss the book and touch on the relationship between Biblical and Talmudic narrative and teaching values through aggada. Read Yitzchak Blau's review of “The Madwoman in the Rabbi's Attic“. Gila Fine lectures in a variety of settings including Pardes Institute and Midreshet Amudim, exploring the tales of the Talmud through philosophy, literary criticism, psychoanalysis, and culture (both high and pop). Her published work has been featured in many platforms including our own pages of TRADITION. Yitzchak Blau, associate editor of TRADITION, is Rosh Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem. Watch a video recording of this conversation.

It's become a tradition at TRADITION that each year we turn to our esteemed editorial board for endorsements for summer reading (read this year's picks here). This summer our friend and colleague Mali Brofsky highlighted the work of author Susan Cain, specifically in her recent #1 NY Times Bestseller (and Oprah Book Club selection) “Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole” (Crown). Mali wrote that Cain's book “examines the experience of melancholy or poignancy that she calls Bittersweet. She wonders about the emotions of loss and longing that seem so unavoidable in this world, and that often accompany not only experiences of suffering, but also moments of transcendent beauty. Cain observes that this experience of longing is ultimately a marker for the universal experience of yearning for the transcendent and the Divine. She explores how suffering can be transformed into meaning, purpose, and creativity, arguing that this pain is unavoidable and should not be ignored or explained away. Cain ultimately concludes that when loss is accepted, it can lead us to greater empathy for each other as we connect to our common experience of pain.” In reviewing Bittersweet Mali drew lessons, strength, and encouragement following the events of Simchat Torah and throughout this year's long war. After publishing this summer's endorsement we were delighted that Susan Cain reached out to us, thanking TRADITION for the review. She wrote: “It truly meant the world to me. I so appreciate the linking of the book to the post-October 7 experience. That is how I think of it too, even though of course I had no idea what would happen when I wrote it. I also wanted to especially thank Mali Brofsky for so perfectly capturing what I tried to convey in ‘Bittersweet’—it's an inherently ineffable topic, and Mali's is the best description I've yet read.” We thought it would be interesting to record a conversation between Mali and Susan and to explore how Bittersweet has special meaning for our religious community. Named one of the top ten influencers in the world by LinkedIn, Susan Cain is a renowned speaker and author of the award-winning books “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking” and “Bittersweet.” Her TED Talk on the power of introverts has been viewed over forty million times. Follow her work at SusanCain.net and join her “Quite Life Community” (housed at SubStack). Mali Brofsky, an editorial board member at TRADITION, is a senior faculty member at Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim, teaches at Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Hebrew University, and runs a clinical social work practice.

In the area of Jewish medical ethics brain death is the topic which just will not die. With the advent of technologies and medical developments since the mid-twentieth century, questions about the halakhic definition of death have gone from the largely theoretical (and philosophical) to painfully practical for physicians, patients, and their families. Perhaps no other rabbinic figure's opinion has factored in quite so significantly on the subject as R. Moshe Feinstein zt”l, the preeminent posek of the last century. However, the contours and applications of R. Feinstein's position have been intensely debated. In a recent piece of research that surfaces some relevant new points of evidence, Dr. Noam Stadlan offers a re-understanding of R. Feinstein's ruling, arguing that he defined death as irreversible apneic coma, without regard for the continued presence of heart function. This has various significant implications for end-of-life care and organ donation. In this episode of the Tradition Podcast, Stadlan joins our editor, Jeffrey Saks, to discuss the article, as well as larger trends in the field of Jewish medical ethics, the partnership that should exist between physicians and medical research on one hand with poskim on the other, and why our readers are perennially interested in the field of medical halakha. Read Noam Stadlan, “Revisiting R. Moshe Feinstein's Definition of Death” (TRADITION, Winter 2024): https://traditiononline.org/revisiting-r-moshe-feinsteins-definition-of-death Noam Stadlan, M.D., is Vice-Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, IL.

TRADITION's Winter 2024 issue (now fully open access) featured a review by R. Gidon Rothstein of R.  Elisha Aviner's Hebrew volume, Dor Tahpukhot, whose English title might read A Guide for Parents Whose Children Have Distanced Themselves from Observance (Sifiyat Hava). The book is a practical, philosophical, and halakhic compendium of advice to parents who have struggled to educated their children to a life of religious commitment, and the often painful and complicated realities of what happens when some children choose their own path “off the derech” (as the saying goes). Elisha Aviner is Rosh Kollel at the Birkat Moshe Hesder Yeshiva in Maale Adumim, and rabbi of that local community. He is also well known in Israel as a speaker and writer on the array of issues involved in educating adolescents. In his review, Gidon Rothstein, an author and educator, unpacks some of the complexities of this new book, and gets to the heart of some of the issues, especially how the book presents divergent approaches when offering general advice, encouragement, and support versus when speaking in a more formal halakhic context. Read Gidon Rothstein's review of Elisha Aviner, Dor Tahpukhot. In this podcast we discuss Rothstein's thoughtful and sensitive review; consider the book's very specific Israeli focus; and consider how its lessons might be adapted – or not – for an American audience.

Subscribers have no doubt begun to dig into TRADITION's recent symposium issue on “The Challenge of Material Success,” which contains the proceedings of our Tradition Today Summit. We were delighted that one of our contributors, Michael Eisenberg, recently discussed his paper with Yaakov Wolff at the Shtark Tank podcast. The essay and conversation center on Eisenberg's concept of “Covenantal Capitalism” and how Jewish values have shaped his career and investing. They also discuss ways in which Torah concepts concerning economic values are best, perhaps only, able to be implemented in modern Israel. Michael Eisenberg is the co-founder and general partner of Aleph, a Tel Aviv-based venture capital firm, and the author of, most recently, The Tree of Life and Prosperity. The Shtark Tank podcast, hosted by Yaakov Wolff, explores a variety of relevant topics, including the challenges and possibilities at the intersection of careers and religious life for those who strive to find balance and to succeed at each in fulfilling ways. Subscribe to Shtark Tank on Spotify or all podcasting platforms. Our thanks to them for their partnership in allowing us to share this episode with listeners of the Tradition Podcast.

TRADITION's most recent issue features a special section with short reflective essays on the events of October 7th and the ongoing war in Israel. In this episode, two of those authors meet to discuss the topics touched on in those very personal pieces of writing. Chaim Strauchler engages with Alex S. Ozar, who serves as a rabbi with the Orthodox Union's JLIC and the Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale University. Alex's essay, “War in Israel, in New Haven” captures the raw emotions, trauma, and fear of last Simhat Torah. He wonders: Is the Golden Age of American Jewry, in fact, over? He shares reflections on the Jewish experience on the Yale campus over the past number of months and what that experience says about the future of American Jewry. Amidst many frightening anecdotes, he communicates optimism about his students and the prospects for future Jewish success. Chaim Strauchler, associate editor at TRADITION, in his essay, considers how we might make the best opportunities of the current crisis, to grow and improve from amidst its ashes. Locating in Maimonides' teachings a call to accountability he suggests three arenas for discussion: a counter-narrative to the oppressor/oppressed duality; a renewal of Zionism; and ways to heal as a nation and a people. You can read both of these essays open-access in our newest issue.

Because TRADITION has always aspired to be more than a quarterly print journal and aims to help shape the conversation and have an impact in our religious community, about five years ago we broadened our reach by expanding our digital-direct offerings, producing shorter-form original content distributed on TraditonOnline.org and over social media—this includes the podcast, expanded coverage of books and cultural criticism, and a platform to feature new authors. Since December 2022 Yitzchak Blau has been producing “Alt+SHIFT”—that's the keyboard shortcut allowing us quick transition between input languages on our keyboards. For many readers of TRADITION this is the move from English to Hebrew (and back again). Blau has shared his insider's look into trends, ideas, and writings in the Israeli Religious Zionist world to help readers from the Anglo sphere gain insight into worthwhile material available only in Hebrew. This series is now heading off on hiatus and we thought it would be a good idea to talk with its author about what he's accomplished in the 30 installments of the column. Yitzchak Blau, Rosh Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem's Old City, is an Associate Editor of TRADITION. Later in the episode, we meet Moshe Kurtz, who will be stepping in with a new series, “Unpacking the Iggerot,” exploring themes and topics at the intersection of halakha and hashkafa as they arise from the Iggerot Moshe of R. Moshe Feinstein zt”l. He joins us now for a quick preview of what we can expect from that upcoming series. Kurtz is the Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Agudath Sholom in Stamford, CT, author of Challenging Assumptions, and host of the podcast Shu”T First, Ask Questions Later.

Yisroel Ben-Porat, a doctoral candidate in early American history at CUNY Graduate Center, is writing a doctorate on the Puritans' use of the Hebrew Bible as a political text. In TRADITION's recent Fall 2023 issue he offered a historical investigation of an enigmatic early eighteenth-century figure, “Rabbi” Judah Monis—the first known Jewish-born degree recipient and faculty member at Harvard, where he taught Hebrew for almost four decades. Monis converted in advance of his appointment, but seems to have maintained a complicated relationship with the Judaism he left (or tried to leave) behind. The Tradition Podcast spoke with Ben-Porat about this little-known chapter which opens very many questions about American Jewish identity and politics, Antisemitism, and even current events and conflict on the Harvard campus and the halls of Congress (in ways Ben-Porat could not have anticipated when he authored the essay months ago). Read Yisroel Ben-Porat, “Protestant Rabbi: The Conversion of Judah Monis in Colonial Massachusetts,” TRADITION (Fall 2023). Watch a video recording of this discussion.

Listen to an introduction to TRADITION's upcoming Winter 2024 issue, with special content related to the ongoing war in Gaza. Jeffrey Saks observes: The initial shock, horror, and trauma of October 7th have in no way abated and all thoughts remain fixed on the “matzav”—our most abnormal situation. Writing from Israel, our editor considers the challenges for our religious community, the heartening reality of Jewish unity, and some sharp questions it poses for our way forward. Listen to this Audio Editor's Note accompanying the new issue, due to arrive in subscribers' hands and online next week.

TRADITION's Summer 2023 issue, recently made fully open access, contained a fascinating offering penned by Michael A. Shmidman, our distinguished editor emeritus, titled “Isadore Twersky's Unique Contribution to the Study of The Guide of the Perplexed.” It is a presentation and analysis of five integral and interlocking components of Rabbi Professor Isadore (Yitzhak) Twersky's understanding of Maimonides' formulation of the relationship between the philosophic tradition and the Oral Law, particularly as expressed in the Moreh Nevukhim. Shmidman suggests that all of Maimonides' works, as viewed by Twersky, “promote the integration, the blending, the fusion of law and philosophy. We should not bifurcate the most central Jewish figure of the medieval era into Rambam the halakhist and Maimonides the philosopher, but rather view his work as one united entity.” Because R. Twersky's major scholarly focus was on the Mishneh Torah, his unique contribution to the study of The Guide of the Perplexed is, Shmidman suggests, sadly underappreciated—and that contribution is the focus of this essay. Michael A. Shmidman is Dean and Professor of Jewish History at Touro University Graduate School of Jewish Studies. This most recent essay originated as a lecture at a conference commemorating the 25th yahrzeit of R. Isadore Twersky convened at Yeshiva University's Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University (on September 11, 2022). We thought our readers would appreciate listening to Shmidman's talk alongside reading his essay at TraditionOnline.org. The recordings of all the lectures at that daylong event, “Understanding Halakhah, History & Spirituality,” can be found on Revel's YouTube channel—and we thank our friends at the Bernard Revel Graduate School for sharing this resource with our listeners.

As we continue to wrestle with the state of anxiety for what comes next at this troubling and traumatic time in Israel and around the Jewish world, we take strength from demonstrations of inspiring resilience and unity in our nation. We hope you've been following the content recently published on TraditionOnline.org responding to current events. In our upcoming Winter issue we hope to deliver some more substantive writing, tentative and initial as it may be, bringing the lens of Orthodox Jewish thought to bear on this war. In the meantime, as we try to make sense of things while navigating the maze we find ourselves in, we thought it would be useful to check in with TRADITION's “elder statesman,” Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, whose wisdom, insights, and opinions cast useful light in the darkness—perhaps even more so as he enters the back end of his 10th decade with all the intellectual rigor readers of our pages have been accustomed to since his first early contribution in 1960. (Read all of R. Feldman's TRADITION articles and columns here.) In this episode R. Feldman chats with our editor Jeffrey Saks about the current Gaza War in light of his memories of the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War; the challenges to Zionism and religious Zionism going forward; and his cautious optimism for a renewed Jewish spirit when the fog clears and we emerge victorious. They also talked about the role of TRADITION as a scholarly journal of ideas at a time such as this. Rabbi Emanuel Feldman served in the rabbinate in Atlanta for over 40 years before making his home in Jerusalem in 1991. He edited TRADITION from 1988 to 2001 and remains a valued counselor to our journal.

“The entire world is a very narrow bridge.” The world, all of life, is a “narrow bridge,” on either side of which is a gaping, terrifying abyss. Someone who does not live this experience cannot understand it. One needs to traverse the bridge, and it is clear from an objective perspective that he is capable of doing so. This is why “the main thing is not to fear at all.” Your greatest enemy is not outside of you, but, rather, inside of you. It is fear itself. So writes Prof. Shalom Rosenberg z”l in his essay “A Narrow Bridge: R Nahman of Breslov's Faith in a World of Doubt” appearing in TRADITION's recent Fall 2023 issue. Rosenberg was a distinguished professor of Philosophy and Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University and a widely-regarded public intellectual. He passed away in Jerusalem in March 2023. This essay was, of course, written and sent to press before our current traumatic moment in Israel — what all agree is a time in which we must find faith in a world of confusion and many are plagued by doubt. Because Rosenberg's essay presents itself to us with such unexpected timeliness, we thought it would be instructive to discuss it with Rabbi Dr. Zvi Leshem, himself a student of Rosenberg. Leshem is the director of the Gershom Scholem Collection for Kabbalah and Hasidism at the National Library of Israel. Read “A Narrow Bridge: R Nahman of Breslov's Faith in a World of Doubt” (TRADITION, Fall 2023).

During this time of worldwide Jewish unity, TRADITION is pleased to deliver an episode of our podcast co-produced with our friends at Matan: The Sadie Rennert Women's Institute of Torah Study in Jerusalem. Our recently released Fall 2023 issue features an essay by Dr. Yosefa Fogel Wruble titled “Psalm 139: When God's Presence Both Overwhelms and Eludes” which explores two exegetical prisms for Psalm 139 and the theological relevance in understanding this mizmor as a form of emotional struggle with God. Of course, when the essay was written, and when we went to press a few weeks ago, no one could have foreseen how its themes would become presciently relevant to our current moment—but that's often how it is with Torah learning. We thought it would be appropriate to chat with the author about her essay in light of the events on Simhat Torah and the war. Dr. Yosefa Fogel Wruble is a Ramit in the Women's Beit Midrash at Migdal Oz, a lecturer at Matan, and the host of the 1-on-1 Parsha Podcast from Matan which explores deep thematic points of the weekly Torah portion. For today's we turn the microphone back on her, making her the guest of this episode, for which she is joined by TRADITION's associate editor, Rabbi Yitzchak Blau. They discuss the feeling of being overwhelmed by God and the feeling of His absence. Wruble deepens her analysis and the conversation moves in some novel directions: How does the Psalmist's self-expression compare to the prophetic ambivalence of Jonah and Jeremiah? What are possible responses to our paradoxical experiences of feeling both His presence and absence Which related issues have the current situation brought to the fore? Read “Psalm 139: When God's Presence Both Overwhelms and Eludes” by Yosefa Fogel Wruble (TRADITION, Fall 2023).

TRADITION and the Rabbinical Council of America brought together authors from our recent issue on “The Yom Kippur War After 50 Years” as they discuss insights from their contributions to our pages and the sudden, tragic timeliness of that issue for events unfolding in Israel. Dr. Shlomo Fischer, Rabbi Jeffrey Saks, Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Sinensky and moderator Mrs. Mali Brofsky. TRADITION has made the content of our entire special “Yom Kippur War After 50 Years” issue (Summer 2023) open access as a special digital book: https://traditiononline.org/the-yom-kippur-war-after-50-years SUBSCRIBE TO THE TRADITION PODCAST Available on iTunes / Spotify / SoundCloud / Stitcher / Google Podcasts

TRADITION's Fall 2022 issue featured a lengthy essay by Todd Berman exploring a 6-decade-old critique launched by R. Eliezer Berkovits on Dr. Abraham J. Heschel's “Theology of Divine Pathos.” In brief, the debate centered on Heschel's contention that a prophet reacts to God's emotions, that the navi is guided by God's own feelings. For Berkovits, Heschel errs by aligning himself with the wrong side of the anthropomorphism and anthropopathism debate. Berkovits was a significant figure in mid-century Orthodox Jewish thought and was an important contributor to the pages of TRADITION. A noteworthy curiosity of Berkovits' critique of Heschel was its appearance with an editorial note expressing some reservation about this “controversial” offering, which “evoked sharp differences of opinion among members of our editorial board,” on which he served as a member at that time. Plus ça change. Berman's essay, with its defense of Heschel, similarly evoked sharp differences of opinion among our readers. Todd Berman joins the TRADITION Podcast to discuss the underpinnings of the original debate between Berkovits and Heschel; how the Orthodox community's reception of those ideas has evolved in perhaps surprising ways over the decades; and what aroused his interest in this old episode which turns out to be still quite relevant to contemporary Jewish thought. See Berman's essay, “Berkovits, Heschel, and the Heresy of Divine Pathos,” with links to Berkovits' original 1964 article, the array of reactions generated among our readers, and Berman's response. Rabbi Todd Berman is the Director of Institutional Advancement and a Ram at Yeshivat Eretz HaTzvi.

On April 23, 2023, TRADITION and the Rabbinical Council of America convened our first TRADITION Today Summit, hosted at Congregation Rinat Yisrael in Teaneck, NJ, exploring “Material Success and Its Challenges.” Among the papers presented at the event was a fascinating item co-authored by Avital Chizik-Goldschmidt and Chaim Saiman, “Material Success and the Rise of ‘Modern, Orthodoxy'” – in which a lot rides on the title's enigmatic comma. While the papers from the Summit will be appearing in an upcoming issue of TRADITION, in the hopes that the discussions and debates there will have a greater impact and reach within the broader community, we are rolling out some of the content through our journal's different media arms. In this episode of our podcast, editor Jeffrey Saks (who co-chaired the Summit with Shlomo Zuckier) chats with Saiman about the paper and the unique and curious ways in which the markers of Orthodoxy's material aspirations each respond to the halakhic requirements and religious aspirations of persons who live fully within Orthodoxy and who are invested in its continuity. Chaim Saiman is Professor of Law and Chair in Jewish Law at Villanova University's Charles Widger School of Law, and Albert J. Wood Fellow at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania. Watch a video recording of the conversation.

Three decades following the passing of the Rav zt”l his legacy endures and his teachings still inspire – but how do we communicate his Torah to a generation “which did not know Yosef” (R. Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik, that is)? This is a question that is explored from a few different angles in TRADITION's recent expanded issue on the thought of the Rav.  Readers of the special issue will discover that one of the many insightful perspectives on this particular question is offered by Mali Brosky, whose essay “The Rav's Enduring Pedagogical Relevance” takes up the challenge of how we can best convey R. Soloveitchik's thought, hashkafa, and philosophy to students born over a decade after his death and almost a generation after he left the public stage. It is indeed complex, but crucial, and Brofsky makes a compelling case for why it's more important than ever, offering some lessons from her many years of teaching. She recently discussed her essay on the podcast she co-hosts, RZ Weekly, which surveys issues facing the Religious Zionist community in Israel and worldwide. It's an engaging weekly roundtable conversation between Mali and her educational colleagues, Johnny Solomon and Reuven Spolter. We thank them for allowing us to share the segment of this episode over our feed  – search for RZ Weekly on all podcasting platforms to subscribe.  Subscribers can access the  essay alongside some open-access content available to all at https://traditiononline.org/rabbisoloveitchik120issue where the issue can be purchased as well. Mali Brofsky is a senior faculty member at Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim, teaches for Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Hebrew University, and runs a clinical social work practice in Gush Etzion.

Our editor, Jeffrey Saks, offers this audio version of his Editor's Note introducing TRADITION's special issue on the thought of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt”l. In Saks' essay, “We Read the Rav to Know We Are Not Alone in Loneliness” (open access here), he shares his own personal encounter with the Rav's writings at a pivotal moment in his own religious development, and discusses the important role the Rav played in the American Orthodox scene and in the pages of our journal.  Click here to see the contents of the new issue, sample open-access content, and order your copy. 

Here we are, days before the arrival of Passover. If we are not drowning in cleaning products, chances are we're doing the equally important work—perhaps more important work—of reflecting on the Exodus story in advance of Seder night. A highlight of this week's observances is the recounting of the biblical Ten Plagues. In an interesting new book, Dr. Jeremy Brown considers the Eleventh Plague, a kind of catch-all phrase he uses to explore how Jews as a people and Judaism as a religious tradition have encountered and responded to plagues, disease, and pandemics from the Bible right up to our own days of COVID-19. Dr. Jeremy Brown, Director of the Office of Emergency Care Research at the National Institutes of Health, is a physician and historian of science and medicine. TRADITION's Winter 2021 issue featured his essay “The Plague Wedding,” which was republished as a chapter in his most recent book, "The Eleventh Plague: Jews and Pandemics from the Bible to COVID-19" (Oxford University Press). The TRADITION Podcast recently caught up with Brown to talk about his work, traditional Jewish responses to plague and disease, and, more generally, his assessment of how Jewish thought and halakhic tradition have responded over time to such occurrences—and how we fared during the most recent pandemic. Jeremy considers the long arc of history and does so through the prisms of theology, halakha, ritual, and folk custom (some admittedly bizarre—including the so-called shvartse khasene or plague wedding, about which he wrote in our pages). He balances this with the insights and wisdom drawn from history, epidemiology, medical science, sociology, and public policy.  The host for this episode is Jeffrey Saks, editor of TRADITION. Watch a video recording of this conversation.

Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg is an internationally recognized teacher and lecturer around the English-speaking world and, each week, in multiple settings in Jerusalem, where her unique style of integrating keen readings of the weekly Torah portion with the commentaries of midrash, classical meforshim, Hasidic interpretation, and more, are supplemented by the insights she draws from philosophy, psychoanalytical readings, literature, and culture at large – the “best that's been thought and said,” as it were. Her work has inspired generations of students, and has produced a very rich body of six volumes on biblical books and themes.  TRADITION's Winter 2021 issue featured her essay “On Love, Holiness, and the Other,” and, channeling the work of psychoanalyst Jonathan Lear and R. Aharon Lichtenstein, explored the “command to aspire” as an ethical imperative. That essay has now appeared as part of a larger chapter in her most recent book, The Hidden Order of Intimacy: Reflections on the Book of Leviticus (Schocken). As the Jewish world commences our annual reading of Leviticus this week the TRADITION Podcast spoke with Zornberg about her new book, the unusual way it came about, and the intellectual “atmosphere” she breathes in order to produce works of Torah scholarship that bring together such wide-ranging voices. We also discussed the troubling state of the study of the humanities in the world today and within Jewish learning in particular. The host for this episode is Jeffrey Saks, editor of TRADITION. Watch a video recording of this conversation.

Recording of Rabbi Chaim Brovender and Mrs. Mali Brofsky in conversation to mark the 120th birthday of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt"l. Hosted by TRADITION and WebYeshiva.org (12 Adar/March 5, 2023).

Dr. Tovah Lichtenstein and R. Jeffrey Saks in conversation to mark the 120th birthday of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt"l. Hosted by TRADITION and WebYeshiva.org (12 Adar/March 5, 2023).

Prof. Marc B. Shapiro's recent essay “From the Pages of TRADITION: R. Esriel Hildesheimer on Torah Study for Women” (TRADITION, Summer 2022), was the subject of our most recent podcast. Shapiro joined Jeffrey Saks to discuss 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. Marc B. Shapiro holds the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Chair in Judaic Studies at the University of Scranton. He is the author of, most recently, Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization), among many other scholarly works. Watch a video recording of this conversation.

In the 1970s Moral Philosophy turned its attention to an ancient topic – but coined a new name to organize our thinking about it. That field, now known as “Moral Luck” constitutes a set of fascinating and important philosophical debates. Do we judge people by their intentions, for good or for ill, or by the results of those intentions? This has serious implications for both ethics and jurisprudence, and in civil society as well as within our own religious Tradition. Rabbi Dr. Michael J. Harris recently published “Resultant Moral Luck and Jewish Tradition” (TRADITION, Fall 2022), examining the many significant sources within rabbinic literature that can be brought to bear on this discussion. Harris is Senior Rabbi of the Hampstead Synagogue and Senior Research Fellow at the London School of Jewish Studies. The conversation delved into his essay and the philosophical, halakhic, and aggadic literature surrounding “Moral Luck,” but also discussed how he navigates his role as both community rabbi and academic scholar, as well as the state of philosophical inquiry and the liberal arts within contemporary Modern Orthodoxy. Watch a video recording of this conversation: https://youtu.be/J36ms8qPhy4 Read "Resultant Moral Luck and Jewish Tradition": https://traditiononline.org/resultant-moral-luck-and-jewish-tradition/

TRADITION's Summer 2022 issue featured an article by Yakov Nagen, “Sharing Torah with the World: The Jewish People's Responsibility to Non-Jews.” The essay was part of a cluster of content related to topics in Jewish Universalism.  Nagen's contribution is a learned treatment of issues related to the challenge of being a “light unto the nations” in which he argues that teaching Torah to non-Jews is the most effective way to fulfill our Jewish spiritual mission. His is a provocative thesis, since it must account for longstanding contrary attitudes and approaches, and must justify the endeavor in the face of readings of tradition and halakha which (at best) looks at such activity with suspicion, or (at worst) outright forbids it. Nagen takes this all on in his essay – available open-access to our readers.    Rabbi Dr. Yakov Nagen is the director of Ohr Torah Stone's Beit Midrash for Judaism and Humanity and Blickle Institute for Interfaith Dialogue. He is also a long-time senior rabbi (Ram) at the Otniel Yeshiva. Watch a video recording of this conversation.

As our readers and listeners likely know, since the launch of the TraditionOnline website in the summer of 2019 we have published a weekly feature called “The BEST.” In that column we have asked a wide variety of writers to consider what things “out there” in the big wide world make them think and feel. What elements in general culture potentially inspire us to live better? We have sought to share these insights on cultural objects – both high and low – that might still be described as “the best that has been thought and said,” in Matthew Arnold's phrase. We considered the types of art, literature, film, you name it, that can serve as an antidote to the anarchy of materialism, industrialism, individualistic self-interest, and worst elements of modernity. So far, The BEST has produced almost 150 entries on everything from Dante, Milton, and Shakespeare; Jane Austen and Emily Dickenson; John Locke and John Stuart Mill; the speeches of Lincoln and Dr. King… and reaching all the way over to the music of Johnny Cash and Joni Mitchell; Star Trek and Star Wars; and even took up “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” The full archive of these essays and so much more can be found at www.traditiononline.org/thebest However, we inform our listeners, The BEST will be going on recess for a period. It will return in the future, but keep your eyes on our website for news of the exciting feature which will be filling in for a number of months starting after the holidays. Before The BEST takes its break we wanted to do a bit of a retrospective. In this conversation, Marina Zilbergerts, Dov Lerner, and Chaim Strauchler discuss the challenges and opportunities of harnessing worldly culture in the service of religious life. They also consider questions of instrumentalism, the decline of the liberal arts, and the recent “New York Times” expose on Hasidic yeshivot. Marina Zilbergerts is a scholar of Jewish literature and thought and the author of The Yeshiva and the Rise of Modern Hebrew Literature. Dov Lerner serves as the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates and a member of the faculty at Yeshiva University's Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought. Chaim Strauchler is the rabbi of Cong. Rinat Yisrael in Teaneck, and is an associate editor at TRADITION, where he shepherds The Best column, and has provided us all with so much thoughtful and thought-provoking content.

With Rosh Hashana around the corner, and the end of the Shemitta year upon us, TRADITION's editor Jeffrey Saks sat down chat with Shlomo Brody about his recent essay “The Curious Case of Prozbul's Disappearance and Resurgence” (open access at https://traditiononline.org/the-curious-case-of-prozbuls-disappearance-and-resurgence). Brody's essay offers a fascinating tour of an episode in the history of halakha: how the rabbinically enacted prozbul document, which helps circumvent the loan forgiveness imposed every seven years at the end of the Shemitta cycle, came about, then fell out of use, and subsequently resurged – taking on new force and meaning in recent Jewish history. This test-case raises interesting questions about how and if halakha adapts and evolves.  Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Brody was recently appointed the Executive Director of the Halakhic Organ Donor Society.   

This is an Audio Editor's Note from TRADITION's newly released Summer 2022 issue—Rabbi Jeffrey Saks reads his essay “It Takes a Cosmic Village” which introduces a special section on Jewish Universalism. In this column our editor muses on a cluster of essays recently published in our pages, situating them at the intersection of Jewish Universalism and Particularism; or, in Rabbi Soloveitchik's terms, between the “majestic cosmic sphere” and the humble “here-minded.” Saks considers how these themes are of particular import at this moment of political ferment within society at large and within our own religious community – between the polis and the “shtetl.” Click here to read the print version of the column.

The late and lamented Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was a frequent critic of the emergence of a post-truth culture and also a life-long opponent of moral relativism. Yet, in his book, “The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations,” he was an ardent proponent of a form of religious pluralism. When first published over 20 years ago his position was both attacked and misunderstood—giving rise to questions about how his Orthodoxy and his devotion to objective truth were able to sit alongside his advocacy for a form of religious pluralism.  Samuel Lebens explored these questions in an essay for TRADITION's Spring 2022 issue titled “One God, One Truth, Many Languages: Rabbi Sacks' Pluralism Reexamined” (open access here: https://traditiononline.org/one-god-one-truth-many-languages-rabbi-sacks-pluralism-reexamined).  In this podcast, Dr. Erica Brown, a consulting editor at TRADITION, talks to Lebens about these topics in Rabbi Sacks' thought and about his recent essay. Rabbi Samuel Lebens is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Haifa, and the author of, most recently, "The Principles of Judaism" (Oxford University Press), which investigates the axioms of Jewish faith through the lens of contemporary analytic philosophy, and the forthcoming "Philosophy of Religion: The Basics" (Routeledge). Dr. Erica Brown serves as the Vice Provost and Inaugural Director of Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership at Yeshiva University. Watch a video recording of this conversation at YouTube: https://youtu.be/yANV446q6jk 

In this episode of the TRADITION/Or Chadash series, Shlomo Zuckier discusses the presence of Hasidism in contemporary Modern Orthodox life. Alon Meltzer queries Zuckier about his contribution to TRADITION's “Rabbi Lamm Memorial Volume,” which analyzed R. Lamm's approach to Hasidut and how it formulated a key element in his manifesto of Torah u-Madda. Exploring the idea of academia and secular learning through the lens of gashmiyut, physical pursuit, and the elevation of it, Zuckier considers the role it played within Modern Orthodoxy, Yeshiva University, and the modern question of the rise of neo-Hasidut within the larger, contemporary Jewish world. Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Zuckier, a member of TRADITION's editorial board, is a Research Fellow at the Notre Dame Center for Philosophy of Religion, and a faculty member at Drisha Institute. He most recently edited “Contemporary Uses and Forms of Hasidut” (Orthodox Forum).  Read “Study (of Hasidut) is Great, for It Leads to Action: Two Generations of Hasidut at Yeshiva University”: https://traditiononline.org/study-of-hasidut-is-great-for-it-leads-to-actiontwo-generations-of-hasidut-at-yeshiva-university Watch a video recording of this and all the episodes in this series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtyQnp_keuFRLsi-jDYN47ADJwrBOlH6q

In this episode of the TRADITION/Or Chadash series our editor Rabbi Jeffrey Saks has the tables (and microphone) turned on him and becomes the subject of the interview.  Jacquie Seemann Charak of Or Chadash in Sydney, Australia, questions Saks about his recent essay in the Rabbi Norman Lamm memorial volume, “The Extremes Are More Consistent But Absurd,” which explored R. Lamm's writings on religious moderation as the hallmark of our community. It was also a chance to discuss what we've been doing at TRADITION these days and how the journal has evolved over the decades while remaining loyal to R. Lamm's founding vision from 1958. Read the essay here: https://traditiononline.org/the-extremes-are-more-consistent-but-absurd  Watch a video recording of this and all the episodes in this series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtyQnp_keuFRLsi-jDYN47ADJwrBOlH6q 

RCA – Rabbinical Council of America and its TRADITION Journal present a special conversation from the frontlines of Jewish life in Ukraine with Rabbi Mordechai Bald, Chief Rabbi of Lviv, in conversation with RCA President Rabbi Binyamin Blau, and TRADITION editor Rabbi Jeffrey Saks. Help support the Lviv Jewish community's emergency fund: https://lauderfoundation.com/ukraine

In the period preceding World War I a surprising number of young Jewish women in Habsburg Galicia left their traditional Orthodox homes for life in the Catholic Church (mostly in the Felician Sisters' Convent in Krakow). Although the Jewish community tended to portray this phenomenon as kidnapping, and some families involved government authorities in their attempts to recover their daughters, the situation was far more complex. In her new book, “The Rebellion of the Daughters: Jewish Women Runaways in Habsburg Galicia” (Princeton University Press), historian Rachel Manekin performs a brilliant work of detection, revealing to her readers the inner lives of these young women. Delving into Polish police records, trial transcripts, and other first-hand materials and letters, Manekin introduces us to a world of intrigue, complicated family dynamics, relations between Jews and their surroundings, associations with the Church, as well as precursors to feminist thinking. She shines a new light on history that has implications for the Jewish world in all times and places. The relevance for contemporary educational practice is profound, and Manikin draws a straight line from the tragic events described in her book to the establishment of the Bais Yaakov movement and other advances in women's Jewish education that have ongoing contemporary impact. “The Rebellion of the Daughters” was recently reviewed in TRADITION by veteran educator Beverly Gribetz (open access here). In this episode of the podcast we bring together author and reviewer for a conversation about the book, the world it explores and its meaning for our own. Rachel Manekin is associate professor of Jewish studies at the University of Maryland. She is the author of “The Jews of Galicia and the Austrian Constitution: The Beginning of Modern Jewish Politics.” Dr. Beverly Gribetz has recently retired as the Principal of the Evelina de Rothschild-Tehilla School in Jerusalem.

In TRADITION's Fall 2021 issue, we published an essay penned by Rabbi Shubert Spero – a longtime contributor to our pages. In fact, this essay, his 26th in TRADITION, arrived 60 years after his first appearance in the journal and coincided with his 98th birthday. We took the opportunity to spend an afternoon chatting with Rabbi Spero in his Jerusalem apartment about this essay, “The Problematic Metaphors of Righteousness,” along with matters related to the philosophy of language and morality, and issues he has encountered over his long rabbinic and academic career in “doing philosophy” in the service of getting at the underlying questions which should animate contemporary Jewish life and practice. We also turned our attention to his thinking about Zionism and the state of the State of Israel. Rabbi Dr. Shubert Spero served in the rabbinate for over 30 years in Cleveland prior to his Aliyah in 1983. In Israel he was the Irving Stone Professor of Jewish Thought at Bar-Ilan University, and has published widely on halakha, morality, the Holocaust, the thought of Rabbi Soloveitchik, Religious Zionism, and many other topics in numerous articles and books. Visit the archives of TraditionOnline.org to read the open-access version of his most recent essay and all of his contributions to TRADITION. 

In TRADITION's recent Fall 2021issue we published a wide-ranging review essay, authored by Prof. Jeffrey R. Woolf, surveying the scope and significance of the writings of Rabbi Prof. Yitzhak (Isadore) Twersky zt”l, which were recently collected and published in Hebrew as “Ke-Ma'ayan ha-Mitgabar” (Law and Spirit in Medieval Jewish Thought), edited by Prof. Carmi Horowitz and published by Merkaz Zalman Shazar.  The essay is available in our open-access archive: https://traditiononline.org/book-review-yitzhak-isadore-twersky-law-and-spirit-in-medieval-jewish-thought-edited-by-carmi-horowitz  Order a copy of “Ke-Ma'ayan ha-Mitgabar”: https://www.shazar.org.il/product/%D7%9B%D7%9E%D7%A2%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9F-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%AA%D7%92%D7%91%D7%A8-2 R. Twersky, who passed away in 1997, was a Hasidic Rebbe heading the Talne Shtibel in Boston, and university professor at Harvard, where he was an internationally lauded authority on Rabbinic literature and Jewish philosophy—recognized especially for his scholarship on Maimonides. But for those who know him, especially his Hasidim and graduate students (and those who could lay claim to both titles), R. Twersky was really so much more than these lines from his CV. We thought it would be enlightening to put Professors Woolf and Horowitz together for a conversation. As you'll hear they discussed a wide range of subjects: Why translate Prof. Twersky's English articles for an Israeli audience, and how does our understanding of the shape of his oeuvre change when the essays are gathered between two covers? What was his unique contribution to Jewish Studies? Why did he emphasize the interaction of spirituality and halakha? What is the legacy and long-range import of his work? Watch a video recording of this conversation: https://youtu.be/MC0eJIAV1GU  Carmi Horowitz has taught at Ben Gurion and Bar Ilan Universities, served as Rector of the Touro Graduate School of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem and of Lander Institute, as President of the Givat Washington Teachers College, and as head of the Michlalah Yerushalayim Graduate Program in Jewish Thought. Jeffrey Woolf teaches in the Talmud Department at Bar Ilan University, specializing in the history of halakha, Medieval and Renaissance Jewish History, the Philosophy of Rabbi Soloveitchik, and the interaction between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Both Professors Horowitz and Woolf studied under and completed their doctorates with Prof. Yitzhak Twersky at Harvard University.

Rav Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg zt”l, who passed away in September 2020 at the age of 89, was a towering rabbinic authority who provided halakhic guidance to Jews throughout the world on a panoply of contemporary issues. He possessed a unique blend of phenomenal erudition and real-world perspicacity. When approached for his expertise on contemporary halakhic questions, such as the difficult 9/11 Aguna cases or various mamzerut issues, he would unflinchingly tackle every question, leaving no stone unturned in his rigorous and detailed analysis. One of his legendary traits was to apply the intricacies of halakhic discourse to the practical world of contemporary dispute resolution in the Jewish community. In so doing he brought traditional lomdus down to earth. To help readers gain an appreciation of his sense of practical halakha in the context of the modern beit din, TRADITION recently published a translation of his important essay “Shivhei HaPeshara” (Fall 2021) about the many practical advantages of deciding cases according to principles of equity or compromise, the standard utilized by many rabbinical courts today, 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 and heart of one of our generation's most significant halakhists. As“In Praise of Peshara” is somewhat technical in nature we invited R. Yona Reiss and R. Daniel Z. Feldman, of TRADITION's editorial board, to discuss it, unpack its ideas, and enable greater understanding of the issues. They each describe their own personal relationships with R. Zalman Nechemiah, and how this essay reflects larger themes in his worldview and jurisprudence. Subscribers can access “In Praise of Peshara” at: https://traditiononline.org/in-praise-of-peshara  Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman is a Rosh Yeshiva at the RIETS, an instructor in the Sy Syms School of Business and the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, and the spiritual leader of Ohr Saadya in Teaneck, NJ. He has authored nine volumes on Jewish law and thought, most recently “False Facts and True Rumors: Lashon HaRa in Contemporary Culture,” and serves as the Executive Editor of the RIETS initiative of YU Press. Rabbi Yona Reiss is the Av Beth Din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council and a Rosh Yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) at Yeshiva University, where he holds the Rabbi L. Katz Chair in Professional Rabbinics. He is the author of “Kanfei Yona,” a compendium of essays and responsa about contemporary issues in Jewish law. (Read R. Reiss' eulogy for R. Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg, “Halakha Down to Earth” on TraditionOnline: https://traditiononline.org/13045-2.)

In this episode of the TRADITION Podcast we talk with two contributors to our recent “Rabbi Norman Lamm Memorial Volume” about R. Lamm's vision for the American rabbinate. R. Lamm served as a prominent pulpit rabbi for over a quarter-century, first in Springfield, MA, and then at Manhattan's Jewish Center. As Rosh Ha-Yeshiva of Yeshiva University's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, he presided over the training of multiple generations of young rabbis who went out to have a profound impact in synagogues, schools, and organizational life. Our editor, R. Jeffrey Saks, spoke with R. Menachem Penner and R. Benjamin Samuels about their essays in the memorial volume, which explored R. Lamm's energetic rabbinic leadership and his message and challenge to his rabbinic colleagues and students. Rabbi Menachem Penner is the Max and Marion Grill Dean of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Rabbi Benjamin J. Samuels, Ph.D., has been rabbi of Congregation Shaarei Tefillah in Newton, MA, since 1995 and teaches widely in the Greater Boston Jewish community. Watch a video recording of the conversation: https://youtu.be/2J3Znev0qCc Order your copy of the “Rabbi Norman Lamm Memorial Volume”: https://rabbis.org/product/tradition-norman-lamm-memorial-volume Sound clips in this episode from Rabbi Lamm's Centennial Chag HaSemichah address, “There is a Prophet in Israel” (April 6, 1986), courtesy of the Lamm Heritage Archives: www.yu.edu/about/lamm-heritage

In this episode of the TRADITION Podcast our editor R. Jeffrey Saks speaks with Rachelle Sprecher Fraenkel, who teaches Talmud and Halakha at Nishmat and Matan in Jerusalem, is a Yoetzet Halacha, and the Director of Matan's advanced halakha program. Rabbanit Fraenkel's essay in our “Rabbi Norman Lamm Memorial Volume” explores R. Lamm's writing, preaching, and teaching on the role of “Family and Morality in Turbulent Times.” Throughout the 1960s and 70s, from his synagogue pulpit and his perch as a public intellectual, R. Lamm confronted and addressed the array of cultural changes – and counter-cultural forces – that were afoot and threatening a life of sanctity and religious commitment. Her essay assesses the body of his writing on these topics, and demonstrates how groundbreaking he was at the time, and how enduring most of those messages remain over a half-century later. Order your copy of the “Rabbi Norman Lamm Memorial Volume”:  https://rabbis.org/product/tradition-norman-lamm-memorial-volume

In this episode of the TRADITION Podcast our editor R. Jeffrey Saks speaks with Dr. Erica Brown and Prof. Ari Goldman about their contributions to the “Rabbi Norman Lamm Memorial Volume.” They each wrote about aspects of Rabbi Lamm's written record as a self-styled “unrepentant darshan” one of the Jewish 20th century's peerless rhetoricians, who turned the synagogue sermon into an art form and used the power of the pulpit to commutate an array of messages and educate his flock in a most impactful way.  They also shared with us how Rabbi Lamm's teachings helped shape their own religious worldviews and have had profound personal effects on each of them. Order your copy of the “Rabbi Norman Lamm Memorial Volume”:  https://rabbis.org/product/tradition-norman-lamm-memorial-volume Dr. Erica Brown is a well-known author and public speaker and a consulting editor at TRADITION. She is the director of the Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership at George Washington University: www.ericabrown.com Ari Goldman is a professor of journalism at Columbia University, and formerly the long-time religion reporter for the New York Times and author of “The Search for God at Harvard,” among other books: www.arigoldman.com  

Congregation Rinat Yisrael of Teaneck, NJ, hosted a special Tikkun Leyl Hoshana Rabba remembering the legacy of Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm z”l, and celebrating the publication of TRADITION's Rabbi Lamm Memorial Volume. Speakers: Rabbi Chaim Strauchler, Rabbi Jeffrey Saks, Yoetzet Halacha Tova Warburg Sinensky, Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky. Order the volume: https://traditiononline.org/rabbi-lamm-memorial  Watch the video recording of the event at: https://youtu.be/0hbzaeGr6Ew

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.” This special issue of TRADITION contains 35 chapters by our community's leading rabbis, educators, and thinkers, exploring Rabbi Lamm's literary legacy and contributions to Jewish life and learning. Click here to view the introductory material and table of contents, and to order your copy of “The Rabbi Lamm Memorial Volume.”