TRADITION mourns the passing of Rav Nachum Rabinovitch zt”l, a distinguished Rosh Yeshiva, posek, scholar, educator, and author. Sample some of his essays from our archives at https://traditiononline.org/archives/?_sft_author=nachum-l-rabinovitch
Over the decades, TRADITION has published a number of special issues exploring an array of topics facing Orthodoxy and involving some of the leading writers and thinkers in our community. Check out this index of our symposia on topics ranging from: Women and Jewish education; the religious meaning of the Six-Day War (one symposium at the time and another 25 years later); Orthodoxy and the public square; sexual abuse; the legacies of Rabbis Breuer, Soloveitchik and Lichtenstein; and more…
TRADITION Special Issues IndexOver the decades, TRADITION has published a number of special issues and symposia exploring an array of topics facing Orthodoxy and involving some of the leading writers and thinkers in our community. Click here to access the index of special issues we have pu
Israeli musician Hanan Ben-Ari captured what Covid-19 has taught us in a recent song: “We thought… what person needs another person?… How you [Covid] have returned sanity, longings for people!" Jonathan Ziring explores the state of friendship and human relationships and imagines how the time of great reunion post-Covid will be filtered through the Shehehyahu blessing. https://traditiononline.org/sheheheyanu-appreciating-friendship-in-the-world-of-zoom/
Check out our most recent round-up of new and noteworthy books...
With Adam Kirsch, Josh Teplitsky, אמנון בזק Amnon Bazak, Dov Singer, Maggid Books, Koren Publishers Jerusalem, Yale University Press, Jewish Lives
Judith Bleich, Defenders of the Faith: Studies in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Orthodoxy and Reform (Touro University Press)The Emancipation of European Jewry during the nineteenth century led to conflict between tradition and modernity, creating a chasm that few believed could be bridged. Un
What did Orwell mean by a "good bad" book"? Rabbi Yitzchak Blau describes what he got out of reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin" . . .
The BEST: Uncle Tom’s Cabinby Harriet Beecher StoweReviewed by Yitzchak BlauSummary: Aside from the Bible, no nineteenth-century book sold more copies than Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly (1852). It helped energize the abolitionis
From the TRADITION Archives
In 1982 the late Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits zt"l wondered if and how much we could tell about one's Zionism based upon the variety of Hallel he recited (or didn't) on Yom HaAtzmaut in "Religious Responses to Jewish Statehood."
https://traditiononline.org/religious-responses-to-jewish-statehood/
KOL DODI DOFEK
As we prepare to enter Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut revisit TRADITION's Fall 2006 special issue exploring Rabbi Soloveitchik's magisterial work of religious Zionism, "Kol Dodi Dofek."
https://traditiononline.org/archives/?sort_order=date+asc&_sft_category=2006-issue-39-3&_sf_ppp=20
Among the troubling phenomenon to which we are witness at this most difficult time of COVID is the appearance of anti-Semitic attitudes and actions – hearkening back to medieval accusations of blood libels well poisonings, and up to contemporary anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric, Jews have often borne the blame of plagues which affected their host societies (even as they themselves were afflicted with black plague, cholera, or today's coronavirus in equal, or sometimes greater, numbers).
In light of these disturbing trends, and in the hopes that we might learn something about our current crisis from the study of history, we turned to Dr. David Berger, Dean of the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University, and a longtime member of TRADITION’s editorial board. Dr. Berger has dedicated decades of his distinguished academic career to the study of anti-Semitism and Jewish-Christian interactions. His writings on these topics have recently been gathered in "Persecution, Polemic, and Dialogue: Essays in Jewish-Christian Relations" (Academic Studies Press).
Among the troubling phenomenon to which we are witness at this most difficult time of COVID is the appearance of anti-Semitic attitudes and actions – hearkening back to medieval accusations of blood libels well poisonings, and up to contemporary anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric, Jews have often borne the blame of plagues which affected their host societies (even as they themselves were afflicted with black plague, cholera, or today's coronavirus in equal, or sometimes greater, numbers).
In light of these disturbing trends, and in the hopes that we might learn something about our current crisis from the study of history, we turned to Dr. David Berger, Dean of the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University, and a longtime member of TRADITION’s editorial board. Dr. Berger has dedicated decades of his distinguished academic career to the study of anti-Semitism and Jewish-Christian interactions. His writings on these topics have recently been gathered in "Persecution, Polemic, and Dialogue: Essays in Jewish-Christian Relations" (Academic Studies Press).
This Shabbat marks the 5th yahrzeit of Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt"l -- revisit TRADITION's Sefer Yovel (Winter 2014), examining his thought and legacy, published right before his passing, and explore our archive for the many essays he published in our journal over the years.
Sefer Yovel: https://traditiononline.org/archives/?sort_order=date+asc&_sft_category=2014-issue-47-4&_sf_ppp=30
R. Lichtenstein's essays: https://traditiononline.org/archives/?_sft_author=lichtenstein-aharon&_sf_ppp=20
From the TRADITION Archives
Visit our archives for Yom HaShoah to access a variety of essays published over the years on various aspects of the Holocaust.
https://traditiononline.org/archives/?_sf_s=holocaust&_sf_ppp=40
PODCAST
How does literature serve as both an escape from reality as well as a lens back onto ourselves and the challenges we face in difficult days? TRADITION’s editor R. Jeffrey Saks discusses these questions with Sarah Rindner, an instructor of literature at Lander College who recently relocated to Israel with her family.
https://traditiononline.org/podcast-reading-in-a-time-of-covid/
Tradition is the Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought published quarterly by the Rabbinical Council of America since 1958.
How does halakha guide the difficult triage decisions our physicians and emergency care workers are grappling with during the COVID-19 crisis? Dr. Alan Jotkowitz weighs in.
https://traditiononline.org/looking-backward-triage-during-the-covid-19-pandemic
LOOKING BACKWARD: Triage During the COVID-19 PandemicAlan Jotkowitz Dedicated to the refuah shelama of Yissacher Chaim ben Esther Malka and all patients suffering from coronavirus. [“Looking Backward” is an occasional feature on TraditionOnline.org in which we ask authors to reflec
As we mark the Rav's 27th yahrzeit today (18 Nissan) please visit the Rabbi Soloveitchik zt"l Archives at TRADITION to access and read the first editions of many of his most important essays in English -- "The Lonely Man of Faith; "Majesty and Humility"; "Confrontation" and more -- and browse the archives for dozens of articles exploring his life and thought...
https://traditiononline.org/r-soloveitchik-archives/
Music’s power to channel emotion, the challenge of finding meaning in prayer, and the importance of creativity as religious expression are all explored in this social episode of the TRADITION Podcast. Mark Smilowitz has been slowly composing a song off and on for over twenty years based on a passage in Tachanun. It should not be surprising that coronavirus provided new insight to the tefilla, and provided the impetus to complete the project and issue the recording.
https://traditiononline.org/podcast-mark-smilowitzs-ki-lekha-music-to-plead-with-god/
In this short podcast episode, R. Jeffrey Saks talks with Rabbi Mark Smilowitz, a veteran educator in North America and Israel, about his newly released song, “Ki Lekha.” The words are taken from the Monday and Thursday Tahanun prayer, and speak of our beseeching God in times of distress, peril,
Opening day of MLB has been delayed. Chaim Strauchler nevertheless turns to baseball to garner moral insights to slavery and fraud as Pesach approaches...
https://traditiononline.org/slavery-morality-and-baseball/
Slavery, Morality, and BaseballChaim StrauchlerThe phone rang. It was just before six on a recent dark morning. I picked up the phone quickly to prevent it from waking the entire house. After a moment of silence, an automated voice informed me that Visa was calling. A suspicious $1400 charge for
The current pandemic has generated a plethora of novel halakhic issues that were formerly unfamiliar to modern poskim. As with all halakhic challenges, especially in the field of medicine, we seek historical precedent in rabbinic literature. Disease and its impact on society and religious practice is as old as humanity itself. Rabbi Edward Reichman, M.D., turns to the history of rabbinic response to cholera, which appeared in seven prolonged waves in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (each lasting between 7 and 24 years).
The essay reviews some of the issues our predecessors faced in times of pandemic in the hope of providing perspective, inspiration, and guidance on how to cope with our present predicament. Some of the parallels are striking, and it is humbling that despite our remarkable, divinely guided advances in both the understanding and treatment of disease, in many ways, little has changed.
From Cholera to Coronavirus: Recurring Pandemics, Recurring Rabbinic ResponsesEdward ReichmanThis article is dedicated to the refuah shelema of my dear friend, the tzaddik, Yisachar Chaim ben Esther Malka (who is suffering from coronavirus) and to the memory of Romi Cohen z”l a mentor and li
The newest TRADITION Newsletter, with a round-up of our special coronavirus-related content produced during these difficult days of illness and isolation which we hope will offer insight and guidance. Click "Join Our Email List" on the linked page if you didn't receive this in your inbox.
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/TRADITION---Special-Coronavirus-Content.html?soid=1102184415990&aid=rnN0chWwWq0
It is said that naming a problem is the first step in ameliorating it. How has Hebrew developed words for plague and pestilence, epidemics and diseases -- and their antonymic words of healing? Linguist David Curwin explores and explains...
Words of Ailing, Words of HealingDavid CurwinWhile the coronavirus has led to a crisis like nothing seen in over a century, humanity as a whole, and the Jewish people in particular, have experienced plagues and epidemics over the millennia. It should therefore not be surprising that many Hebre
Is the primary mission of schools to transmit content, which can be achieved online, or is their central purpose to provide social stimulation, experiences, and a sense of community, none of which can be replaced by a Zoom session? The question applies to historians of education as well. When studying a school or educational movement, how much focus should be on the educational content, and how much on the community and experiences created by the school system? Channa Lockshin Bob explores through the prism of a trove of early Bais Yaakov student notebooks...
https://traditiononline.org/the-early-days-of-bais-yaakov-a-peek-inside-the-classroom
The Early Days of Bais Yaakov: A Peek Inside the ClassroomChanna Lockshin BobIn recent weeks, as schools and universities around the world have shifted to online teaching, a conversation has begun about the nature of education. Is the primary mission of schools to transmit content, which can b
“Witness Mr. Henry Bemis, a charter member in the fraternity of dreamers. A bookish little man whose passion is the printed page, but who is conspired against by ... a world full of tongue-cluckers and the unrelenting hands of a clock.” Tradition Journal's "The BEST" column explores "The Twilight Zone" and its message during coronavirus isolation.
The BEST: The Twilight Zone: Time Enough at LastReviewed by Jeffrey Saks“Witness Mr. Henry Bemis, a charter member in the fraternity of dreamers. A bookish little man whose passion is the printed page, but who is conspired against by a bank president and a wife and a world full of tongue
TRADITION PODCAST: Erica Brown on "We Are But Dust"
This is another special episode of the TRADITION Podcast, checking in with our authors and editors to hear how they are managing through the corona crisis. In this installment, R. Jeffrey Saks talks with Dr. Erica Brown about the Avinu Malkenu, recited on public fasts and the Days of Awe—times of introspection, repentance, and spiritual stock-taking. Dr. Brown focuses on the line “Our Father, Our King, remember that we are but dust” as a statement of humility in the face of uncertainty.
This is another special episode of the TRADITION Podcast in which we check in with our authors and editors to hear how they are managing through the corona crisis. In this installment, R. Jeffrey Saks talks with Dr. Erica Brown about her recent thoughts concerning the Avinu Malkenu, recited on publi
TRADITION PODCAST: Courage as a Jewish Value
In this special coronavirus episode of the TRADITION podcast, our editor, Jeffrey Saks, talks with Yitzchak Blau about his Winter 2009 essay whose titled asked the rhetorical question: “Is Courage a Jewish Value?”
We have all been thinking about courage these days, especially in light of the many acts of resilience (spiritual and otherwise) in the face of Covid-19 to which we’ve been witness. Rabbi Blau suggests that courage is a concept which lurks in the background of many Jewish texts. Why isn’t it more in the foreground? How do traditional Jewish sources explicitly endorse and emphasize the virtue of courage? Need courage rooted in religious values such as faith and trust in God entail an absence of fear?
Listen here: https://traditiononline.org/podcast-courage-as-a-jewish-value/
In this special coronavirus episode of the TRADITION podcast, our editor, Jeffrey Saks, talks with Yitzchak Blau about his Winter 2009 essay whose titled asked the rhetorical question: “Is Courage a Jewish Value?” We have all been thinking about courage these days, especially in light of th
An important message from our publisher The Rabbinical Council of America - RCA.
Rav Kook on Fear Itself
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To contribute to ongoing intellectual pursuit during this difficult time, we have opened the TRADITION Fall 2019 issue, including the entire symposium on Haym Soloveitchik's "Rupture and Reconstruction." Enjoy open access to the issue along with our entire archives going back to 1958!
https://traditiononline.org/archives/?_sft_category=fall-2019-issue-51-4&_sf_ppp=30
As part of its important role in servicing rabbis and Jewish communities throughout North America and the world, The Rabbinical Council of America - RCA, publisher of Tradition Journal, convened a special conference call with Rav Hershel Schachter for the organization’s member rabbis on March 16, 2020. During the call Rav Schachter, Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS - Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University, fielded questions on an array of topics concerning halakha in a time of coronavirus—from pre-Pesach preparations, to communal prayer, to mikva observance, and more. Listeners will recognize and appreciate Rav Schachter’s renowned erudition, and his deep concern for the supreme importance of protecting human life and health as a central value in Judaism’s moral and legal tradition.
The conference call was meant to serve as a resource for communal rabbis who are facing unprecedented challenges in leading their synagogues and pastoring their flocks, and we thank the RCA for sharing it with readers of TRADITION and listeners of the podcast. Obviously each individual should consult with his or her own halakhic authority concerning specific questions. The conversation was convened and moderated by Rabbi Mark Dratch, executive director of the RCA.
As part of their important role in servicing rabbis and Jewish communities throughout North America and the world, the Rabbinical Council of America, publisher of TRADITION, convened a special conference call with Rav Hershel Schachter for the organization’s member rabbis on March 16, 2020. Durin
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Israeli musician Hanan Ben-Ari captured what Covid-19 has taught us in a recent song: “We thought… what person needs another person?… How you [Covid] have returned sanity, longings for people!" Jonathan Ziring explores the state of friendship and human relationships and imagines how the time of great reunion post-Covid will be filtered through the Shehehyahu blessing. https://traditiononline.org/sheheheyanu-appreciating-friendship-in-the-world-of-zoom/
Among the troubling phenomenon to which we are witness at this most difficult time of COVID is the appearance of anti-Semitic attitudes and actions – hearkening back to medieval accusations of blood libels well poisonings, and up to contemporary anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric, Jews have often borne the blame of plagues which affected their host societies (even as they themselves were afflicted with black plague, cholera, or today's coronavirus in equal, or sometimes greater, numbers). In light of these disturbing trends, and in the hopes that we might learn something about our current crisis from the study of history, we turned to Dr. David Berger, Dean of the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University, and a longtime member of TRADITION’s editorial board. Dr. Berger has dedicated decades of his distinguished academic career to the study of anti-Semitism and Jewish-Christian interactions. His writings on these topics have recently been gathered in "Persecution, Polemic, and Dialogue: Essays in Jewish-Christian Relations" (Academic Studies Press).
FROM THE TRADITION ARCHIVES for Parashat Shemini "Is the Giraffe a Kosher Animal?" asked Rabbi J. David Bleich in this 2001 "Survey of Recent Halakhic Literature" column -- find out here:http://traditionarchive.org/news/originals/Volume%2035/No.%201/Survey%20of%20Recent.pdf
Visit the free and open archives of TRADITION going back to 1958 -- http://traditionarchive.org/archives -- and stay tuned for the soon to be revamped website.
FROM THE TRADITION ARCHIVES Last week the State of Israel launched the Beresheet Spacecraft scheduled to land on the moon in time for Shabbat HaGadol. What has been said about space exploration in the pages of Tradition? Quite a lot, actually. Start with Rabbi Norman Lamm's classic "The Religious Implications of Extra-Terrestrial Life," TRADITION 7:4 (Winter 1965):http://traditionarchive.org/news/originals/Volume%207/No.%204/The%20Religious%20Implication.pdf
FROM THE TRADITION ARCHIVES for Parashat Ki Tisa At the episode of the Golden Calf are the people of Israel flagrant sinners or abandoned children? Do they receive Moses' rebuke with defiant indifference or great remorse? Is Aaron a leading perpetrator or a coerced victim? Do the Levites embrace their roles as defenders of God with zeal or with pain? Unravel these questions through the midrashic reading which builds on textual cues and tensions embedded in the narrative, in David Flatto’s essay “Golden Sacrifices,” TRADITION 35:4 (Winter 2001) --http://traditionarchive.org/news/originals/Volume%2035/No.%204/Golden%20Sacrifices.pdf
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