Tradition Journal

30/11/2025

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 - TRADITION’s seasonal roundup of noteworthy new titles in Jewish studies and learning (linked in comments), with offerings on a range of Biblical books, American Modern Orthodoxy on Aliya, libraries and Jewish printing, Rav Kook in translation, engaging dispute, and more…

27/11/2025

A TRADITION Thanksgiving tradition....

This post is about Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice's Restaurant,” and it's about Arlo, and the Restaurant, but "Alice's Restaurant" is not about a restaurant. Instead, Rina Chaya Shamilov connects the Thanksgiving folk music classic to the Pesach story, charts a journey through its music, and questions ...

27/11/2025

𝗨𝗻𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘁: 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 - What did R. Moshe Feinstein, who said the USA is a Medina shel Hesed, think of one of the most iconic American holidays? Moshe Kurtz explains that it depends on which of his several responsa one is looking at (linked in the comments). Unpack the Thanksgiving Iggerot Moshe….

26/11/2025

Thanks to our friends at Jewish Review of Books for featuring the recent essay in TRADITION by Alex Israel which drew on an exchange in JRB between Rabbi Sacks and Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. (They also highlight a new work of Agnon translation by our editor Jeffrey Saks!)

The curious case of the sword and the cup.

23/11/2025

𝗣𝗢𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧: 𝗥𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗶 𝗦𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 - TRADITION is delighted to share this recording of a talk by Dr. Erica Brown delivered through YU's Sacks-Herenstein Center, commemorating the recent 5th yahrzeit of Rabbi Sacks (linked in comments). Brown speaks about her contribution to TRADITION’s special issue on the Intellectual Legacy of Rabbi Sacks, titled “Staying Alive: The Dangers of Leadership.”

20/11/2025

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗘𝗦𝗧: 𝗞𝘂𝗺𝗮 - “Kuma” is a breathtaking, nearly ten-foot illustrated scroll by the late Staff Sgt. Eitan Rosenzweig, displayed at Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem, who created it when he was nineteen years old (see link in comments). The artwork weaves together Jungian theories of the unconscious, the mythologist Joseph Campbell’s concept of the heroic journey, and imagery drawn from Western art and Jewish history. Sarah Rindner Blum, says it is a work of art that one must study rather than merely observe.

16/11/2025

𝗣𝗢𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧: 𝗥𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲, 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 - Rabbi Sacks believed that, out of the science of positive psychology, and in conversation with cognitive behavioral therapy, a new Musar movement could be established. In this episode of the Tradition Podcast (linked in first comment), Tamra Wright and Mordechai Schiffman begin to unpack what this might mean in light of their co-authored essay “Radical Resilience: Hope, Agency and Community,” from TRADITION’s recent special issue on the intellectual legacy of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. They are joined for the conversation by that volume’s co-editor, Samuel Lebens.

15/11/2025

Tradition Today Summit covered in The Jewish Link.

Tradition, the premier journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, published quarterly by the RCA since 1958, convened its second Tradition Summit at Congregation Rinat Yisrael on Sunday, November 9. Partnering with the Azrieli School of Jewish Education and the administration of Yeshiva University, the day...

13/11/2025

TRADITION is delighted to share this recording of a talk by Dr. Erica Brown delivered through Yeshiva University’s Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership, commemorating the recent 5th yahrzeit of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Brown speaks about her contribution to TRADITION’s special issue on the Intellectual Legacy of Rabbi Sacks, titled “Staying Alive: The Dangers of Leadership” – open access at:
The essay examines the theme of leadership in a variety of R. Sacks’ works, exploring both his methodology and how to situate his thinking within the broader academic discipline of leadership. R. Sacks focused on how to inspire and motivate lay and professional leaders within the Jewish community. To that end, he distilled his wisdom into seven principles of leadership, which reflected the leadership dilemmas and crises he faced and during his own tenure as Chief Rabbi.

TRADITION is delighted to share this recording of a talk by Dr. Erica Brown delivered through Yeshiva University’s Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Lea...

13/11/2025

This Sunday at Kingsway Jewish Center in Brooklyn: Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman will be giving a shiur based on the TRADITION essay he co-authored with Dr. Tamra Wright for the special issue in honor of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, “Radical Resilience: Hope, Agency & Community in the Thought of Rabbi Sacks.”

13/11/2025

𝗨𝗻𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘁: 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗽𝘆𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 - Who has ownership over this “Unpacking the Iggerot” series – Rabbi Moshe Feinstein or Rabbi Moshe Kurtz (or perhaps TRADITION)? Perhaps none of the above! Is there even such a concept as ownership over Torah or other forms of intellectual property? Read more at link in first comment...

12/11/2025

𝗣𝗢𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧: 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 - As part of the Tradition Today Summit we hosted a community wide public Keynote Address by Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter on “Historical Realities and Educational Methodologies: Then and Now.” This was the capstone to a daylong closed conference exploring “Educating Our Children to Be Ovdei Hashem in a Modern World: Challenges and Opportunities.” Watch or listen now at link in comments.