From Our Archives: Idolatry – A Prohibition for Our Time

In light of the Sefer Devarim’s repeated condemantion of idolatry, please see our featured archive article, “Idolatry: A Prohibition for our Time” by Herzl Hefter (42:1, 2009) – Shlomo Brody

Books of Interest: Rambam

Moshe Halbertal’s Hebrew biography of the Rambam (Merkaz Zalman Shazar) is characteristically brilliant.  Although the first and longest chapter, nearly 70 pages, chronicles the Rambam’s life and his role as a communal leader, the book is primarily an intellectual biography, based on Rambam’s major works.  Each chapter is sharp and probing, providing thoughtful insights into the Rambam’s [...]

Against the Shulchan Aruch: The Critique of the Maharshal by Shlomo Brody

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo caused a small tempest of controversy in a recent essay calling for greater autonomous religiosity.  Without commenting on his larger and more radical thesis, his citation of the Maharshal and his critique of the codification of halakha was noteworthy, as R’ Cardozo became the latest of a long string of historical figures who asserted that codification [...]

The Nahem Controversy: A Brief Summary by Shlomo Brody

Particularly since the Six-Day War, there has been an ongoing discussion within Israel regarding the propriety of stating the Nahem prayer during Mincha of Tisha Be’av.  Below I provide a brief summary, adapted from my Jerusalem Post Ask The Rabbi column, which, because of editorial complications, will only appear in the paper this coming Friday.  [...]

Flexibility: The Key to Redemption? By Gidon Rothstein

Around this time of year, we once again face our continuing state of חורבן, of the destruction not only of our Temple, our Beit haMikdash, but really of the national, legislative, judicial, social, and cultural structure that would be ideal for our people.  There are many explanations for why and how this happened, perhaps the [...]

Rabbi Yehuda Amital zt”l: Reflections by Nathaniel Helfgot, Yehudah Mirsky, Alex Israel, Yair Kahn, and Reuven Ziegler

To read two essays of Rav Amital’s published in Tradition, click here.  Rav Amital and the Complexity of Life and Judaism By Nathaniel Helfgot  The passing of Moreinu Verabeinu Rav Yehuda Amital zt”l has deeply affected us all who were his direct or indirect students. It is difficult to write a comprehensive retrospective of such a [...]

Torat Tisha Be’av, Torat Timahon: The Confused Torah of Tisha Be’av by David C. Flatto

The core prohibition of learning Torah on Tisha Be’av permits certain narrow exceptions (see Taanit 30a).[1]  Most well known is the allowance to study tragic material, such as Jeremiah and Job.  This makes much sense.  As the Talmud explains, the ban on learning during Tisha Be’av derives from the joyous nature of Torah study (“The [...]

From Our Archives: Rabbi Yehuda Amital zt”l

Last week, the Jewish community suffered the loss of Rabbi Yehuda Amital, zt”l, founding Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion and long-time leader within the religious Zionist community.  We hope to soon have a more in-depth appreciate of this great figure, but in the interim, we would like to highlight two of Rav Amital’s articles [...]

Books of Interest: Rav Soloveitchik Kinot and Other Books About Prayer

The hottest new publication in the Orthodox book world (I admit we’re not exactly talking about a NYTimes best seller, but nonetheless…) is clearly the Koren Mesorat Ha-Rav Kinot published by Koren and OU Press and edited by Rabbi Simon Posner.  It features a running commentary of the kinot based on the teachings of Rav [...]

From Our Archives: An Analysis of Bamidbar 32

1) Relating to this week’s Torah reading, Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot (Tradition 32:2) asked the following questions regarding chapter 32 and the story of Bnei Gad and Reuven: The first section (32: 1-15) raises a number of points that require careful analysis. To begin with, the text emphasizes the word mikne, cattle, repeating it no less [...]

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