Tradition Journal

26/08/2025

𝗥𝗮𝘃 𝗞𝗼𝗼𝗸’𝘀 𝟵𝟬𝘁𝗵 𝗬𝗮𝗵𝗿𝘇𝗲𝗶𝘁 - 3 Elul (August 27) marks the 90th yahrzeit of Rav Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook zt”l. As one of the preeminent figures in Orthodox Jewish thought in the modern era, it is not surprising Rav Kook’s teachings have featured prominently as subjects of articles in the pages of TRADITION—sample them in our archive (linked in first comment).

25/08/2025

𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻, 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱, 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻: 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗵 𝗛𝗼𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝗘𝗹𝘂𝗹 - With the arrival of Rosh Hodesh Elul and the “back to school” (and yeshiva) season, Avraham Stav (אברהם סתיו) considers the things that pull us away from the benches of the beit midrash, and transformative experiences which help us return to the where we started and know the place for the first time - linked in comments.

21/08/2025

In a new book, Adina Sternberg (עדינה שטרנברג) analyzes the Jewish holidays, analyzing sources from the Bible through Rabbinic literature, and adds reflections on meaning for our day, and also offers an attempt to grapple with women’s exemption from time-bound positive commandments. Yitzchak Blau’s Alt+SHIFT surveys this first offering from Matan - מתן’s Kitvuni program created to encourage women authors.

In a new book, Adina Sternberg analyzes the Jewish holidays, analyzing sources from the Bible through Rabbinic literature, and adds reflections on meaning for our day, and also offers an attempt to grapple with women’s exemption from time-bound positive commandments. Yitzchak Blau’s Alt+SHIFT su...

18/08/2025

Shlomo Zuckier’s recent TRADITION essay traces the wide-ranging literary “afterlife” of R. Aharon Lichtenstein’s “Does Jewish Tradition Recognize an Ethic Independent of Halakha?” In a recent response (linked in comments), Natan Levin engages Zuckier’s analysis through the lens of the famous debate between R. Lichtenstein and Reform theologian Eugene Borowitz.

17/08/2025

𝗥𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗶 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗹 𝗪𝗲𝗶𝗻 𝘇"𝗹 - TRADITION mourns the passing of Rabbi Berel Wein—a unique voice in the Jewish world and energetic leader of Jewish communities and institutions in the United States and Israel for many decades. In 1998, writing in our “Sea Change in American Orthodox Judaism” symposium, he mourned that secular American Jewry was adrift, but cautioned us: “None of this should cause us in the Orthodox world joy.” But that to help alleviate the problem will “require a sea change in the mindset and behavior of all of us…. It is the very success of Orthodoxy that has robbed us of the opportunity for meaningful victory in our struggle for the soul of the Jewish people. It is our triumphalism, the fact that we are so many and so successful, that does not allow us to be open to others that are even slightly ‘different’ from us.” Read R. Wein’s essay along with the rest of the symposium, available as a digital book at: https://traditiononline.org/the-sea-change-in-american-orthodoxy

14/08/2025

𝗔𝗹𝘁+𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗙𝗧: 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗜𝘀 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁 - חנוך דאום - Hanoch Daum’s autobiographical work illustrates what it means to be on the so-called “religious spectrum” and reveals the small nature of Israeli society. Yitzchak Blau's Alt+SHIFT (linked in comments) shows how it's a source of both humor and insight, and reminds us that some comedians know how to take life seriously.

11/08/2025

𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪: 𝗞𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝘂𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 - Eli Rubin's “Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity” (Stanford University Press) presents a groundbreaking study of Chabad Hasidism. Through close readings of primary texts, historical analysis, and engagement with modern philosophy, Rubin, a scholar and Chabad insider, traces the historical evolution of the movement’s theology. Todd Berman (linked in comments) shows that the result is an indispensable work for anyone wanting to better understand Chabad's intellectual and historical trajectory.

10/08/2025

𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗗+𝟱: 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝗵𝘂𝗹 - Readers of TraditionOnline will remember our special COVID+5 series in which we surveyed the lasting impact of the pandemic on Jewish life. Guest editor of that feature Yehuda Halpert's new book "Speaking to an Empty Shul" (Mosaica Press) deepens the engagement with those topics explored in TRADITION. He discussed the book and our series on the Nachum Segal Network. Links to all these items in the comments below.

07/08/2025

𝗔𝗹𝘁+𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗙𝗧: 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗿 𝗔𝘃𝗶 - In commemoration of R. Aharon Lichtenstein’s tenth yahrzeit, his son, R. Mayer Lichtenstein, published “Musar Avi,” a volume of written adaptations of his annual yahrzeit shiurim delivered over the past decade, alongside eulogies and letters from his father. Each chapter dialogues with one of R. Aharon’s foundational essays. Yitzchak Blau’s Alt+SHIFT (linked in comments) shows how the son conveys his father’s character, analyze his Torah, and add his own valuable insights.

06/08/2025

𝗚𝗮𝘇𝗮 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝟮𝟬 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 - Amidst all the other turmoil in Israel at the moment, the nation is grappling with the 20th anniversary of the Gaza Disengagement, and its ongoing implications as war continues to rage in that small strip. TRADITION wrestled with the political and ideological division engendered by the Sharon government’s decision – especially as it played out in the contentious matter of Religious Zionist rabbinic figures directing IDF soldiers to disobey commands to forcefully evacuate the Jewish residents of Gush Katif. In 2007, we published two installments of exchanges between R. Aharon Lichtenstein (Rosh Yeshivat Har Etzion) and R. Avraham Shapira (Rosh Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav and former Chief Rabbi of Israel) on the matter. In 2014, Yair Kahn and Kalman Neuman published an insightful essay exploring this topic as a “test case” in R. Lichtenstein’s approach to Hilkhot Tzibbur. Read these items in our archives – linked in comments.

04/08/2025

Outside the Orthodox Jewish world, discussion of the high cost of living focuses on housing costs, rather than on tuition. Yoni Appelbaum's “Stuck” (Random House) discusses how the American housing shortage came to be, and its negative social consequences. Nathan Kasimer considers its applicability and impact on the economics of our religious communities (linked in comments).

03/08/2025

𝗥𝗮𝗯𝗯𝗶 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗸 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹 (forthcoming from TRADITION, January 2026): Now let us tackle this problem of the Jewish loneliness. In this transition from loneliness to prophetic solitude, to unique existence, may lie the answer to our perennial problem of our loneliness as Jews, as a community and also as individuals – we experience it quite often – which has not disappeared with the birth of the Jewish state; on the contrary, the loneliness of the Jew was emphasized with the emergence of the Jewish state, the State of Israel. It has become more pronounced and more frightening. This was one of the mistakes of Herzl and political Zionism. They thought we are lonely because we are a people in exile, but the moment we'll establish a state, we'll send delegates to the United Nations, to any international assembly, and we'll have our ambassadors, and we'll exchange diplomatic notes, so we'll be equals. This is the basic philosophy of Herzl in Medinat HaYehudim (“The Jewish State”). This is the basic philosophy. This is, so to say, the undertones, so to say, of Medinat HaYehudim.
Of course, I mean, I don't have to preach too much about it. Not only did the individual Jew not gain a normal status in society, but even the Medinat HaYehudim as a state, is the loneliest state on earth, the loneliest state. I can tell you, of course – it was – the representatives of the Jewish state of the United Nations – how they feel, as one of the leading representatives, I don't want to mention him, told me, people think that there is glory in it. How foolish they are. It is such an excruciating experience to be a representative of the Jewish state; I am the loneliest creature in the United Nations, and I said, you know, when I felt lonely? – when America, the American representative, and the British representative, and the French representative – France is supposed to be a good friend of Israel – the French representative, support my viewpoint and speak in favor of, I feel how isolated I am. In the lobby, I feel that the representative of Nasser has friends; he is a part of society; I am outside.