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David Curwin
Navigating A Dynamic Torah: How Its Trajectory Can Resolve Moral Dilemmas
David Curwin

A friend recently posted on Facebook that he felt angry while reading the laws of the “beautiful captive woman” in that week’s parasha. Considering the abuse suffered by female hostages in Gaza, he found it unbearable to read a passage in the Torah that seemed to condone similar circumstances...

David Curwin

 FEATURED ESSAYS

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Dr. Hillel Broder
Counting As Recounting: Reading The Sefirot Along With Sefirat Ha'Omer
Dr. Hillel Broder

It is a curious, perhaps historic oddity to note the contemporary cultural and textual prominence of the sefirot — alternately defined as divine essences, attributes, or emanations — within the ritual engagement of sefirat ha’omer.

Dr. Hillel Broder
The Library

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Devir Kahan
Parshas Vayeira: Rambam Vs. Ramban On The Topic Of Angels, And The Godliness Within All Of Us
Devir Kahan

While Rambam and Ramban agree on quite a lot of the fundamentals of religion and the way God works, sometimes, with some things — even some fundamental ones — Ramban (who lived after Rambam) disagrees quite passionately with Rambam's take on things. One of these disagreements is about the topic of angels...

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Devir Kahan

 SUCCOS

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Levi Morrow
On Women Dancing With A Torah Scroll On Simchat Torah: An Analysis Of An Often Misused Rema
Levi Morrow

Simchat Torah is coming and that means that social media feeds are about to fill up with articles (this piece by R. Gil Student provides an example that seems to keep coming back) arguing about whether or not women should be allowed to hold and dance with Torah scrolls...

Levi Morrow
Devir Kahan
Succos: Why Do We Only Make A Bracha On The Lulav?
Devir Kahan

It is difficult not to feel some sort of connection between Yom Kippur and the upcoming holiday of Succos. There are a number of connections often spoken about, but in this post, I’d like to highlight a less common one...

Devir Kahan
All Essays
Devir Kahan
Free Will (Conclusion): The Implications Of Free Will In The Life Of Man
Devir Kahan

So far in this series we have discussed the differences between Human and Divine knowledge, and addressed the contradiction at the center of our topic, namely, how can Man possess Free Will when God knows all that will happen in the future?...

Devir Kahan
Devir Kahan
Free Will (Part 3): How Can It Be That God Knows Everything, Yet Man Has Free Will?
Devir Kahan

We can now turn to address the question that lies at the heart of any discussion of Free Will — how can it both be true that God knows the future, and that humans have free choice to act how they choose? Rambam poses our problem as follows...

Devir Kahan
Devir Kahan
Free Will (Part 2): Understanding and Defining ‘Knowledge’ in Regards to Both Man and God
Devir Kahan

We begin at the start of Rambam’s discussion of Free Will in Yesodei HaTorah. God, explains Rambam, has total comprehension of His absolute existence...

Devir Kahan
Devir Kahan
Free Will (Part 1): A Brief Introduction
Devir Kahan

The topic of Free Will, or Bechirah Chofshis, in a religious context almost always begins with a seeming contradiction: How can it both be true that God knows the future, and that humans have free choice to act how they choose?...

Devir Kahan

 MISC.

Featured
David Curwin
Navigating A Dynamic Torah: How Its Trajectory Can Resolve Moral Dilemmas
David Curwin

A friend recently posted on Facebook that he felt angry while reading the laws of the “beautiful captive woman” in that week’s parasha. Considering the abuse suffered by female hostages in Gaza, he found it unbearable to read a passage in the Torah that seemed to condone similar circumstances...

David Curwin
Dovid Schwartz
Between Wisdom & Election: Leo Strauss On The Binding of Isaac
Dovid Schwartz

For those who have heard of him, Leo Strauss generally suffers from a negative reputation. To some, he is a political philosopher who rejected modernity in favor of classical antiquity. To others, he was the father of the Iraq war. To yeshiva students, Strauss is the heretic who disgraced the Mishneh Torah and made eternal The Guide of the Perplexed. However, I would like to study Strauss in another light…

Dovid Schwartz
Dovid Schwartz
How To Study The Beginning Of The "Guide Of The Perplexed:" Thoughts On Maimonides’ Philosophy Of Language
Dovid Schwartz

Like most other books, the Guide of the Perplexed is a book of words. Unlike most other books it is a book about words. Maimonides, in his Introduction to the First Part, claims to have two goals. The first goal is to explain the meaning of various terms occurring in the books of prophecy. The second purpose is to explain obscure parables occurring in the books of prophecy…

Dovid Schwartz

 LIGHTS OF CULTURE by R. JOSH ROSENFELD

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R. Josh Rosenfeld
Lights Of Culture: Limitless
R. Josh Rosenfeld

William James, Harvard philosopher and psychologist, is often called the father of American psychology...

R. Josh Rosenfeld
R. Josh Rosenfeld
Lights Of Culture: Out Here In The Fields
R. Josh Rosenfeld

Whenever thinking about or relating to the natural beauty of this world in a spiritual sense, the words of Maimonides come to mind...

R. Josh Rosenfeld
R. Josh Rosenfeld
Educating For Desire: A Lesson From Dante & Rav Kook
R. Josh Rosenfeld

We could sense that the shiur was nearing a close. It had been, as usual, a tour de force of emotion and insight that characterized these once-weekly gatherings of the entire Yeshiva...

R. Josh Rosenfeld
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R. Moshe Shure
Some Musings On The Upcoming Holidays
R. Moshe Shure

Before we begin let me take a moment to note that the following essay is not meant to be taken as a Halachic ruling one way or the other, nor to criticize anyone who observes these holidays, but to raise some issues that some may not have formerly been aware of. Conclusions are for each reader to draw for himself. It is beyond the scope of this essay to go too much in depth…

R. Moshe Shure
Dovid Schwartz
Between Wisdom & Election: Leo Strauss On The Binding of Isaac
Dovid Schwartz

For those who have heard of him, Leo Strauss generally suffers from a negative reputation. To some, he is a political philosopher who rejected modernity in favor of classical antiquity. To others, he was the father of the Iraq war. To yeshiva students, Strauss is the heretic who disgraced the Mishneh Torah and made eternal The Guide of the Perplexed. However, I would like to study Strauss in another light…

Dovid Schwartz
Levi Morrow
Rav Shagar on Being Religious as Being Weird and Avant-garde, with A Note About Academic Bible Scholarship
Levi Morrow

So apparently men wearing skirts is getting more and more popular (hold onto your hats, because this essay is going to end up talking about academic Bible scholarship). Just a few years ago, however, it was considered avant-garde...

Levi Morrow