Sefiras HaOmer is all about making something of yourself once you’ve made the conscious decision to be free of your deterministic shackles...

Apr 26
Apr 26 The Freedom Of Pesach: Why Are You Religious?

Devir Kahan

Holidays, Pesach

One of the major themes and focuses of Pesach is the juxtaposition of freedom to slavery. What makes a slave? What makes a freeman? These are questions at the very heart of the holiday of Pesach...

Apr 21
Apr 21 The Awkward Requirement Of Reclining At The Seder

Devir Kahan

Holidays, Parsha, Pesach

The requirement of haseibah, or reclining, during the Pesach seder is a rather interesting one...

Apr 21
Apr 21 Prophetic Formulas (Part 2): Deconstructing Gog U’Magog

Yaacov Bronstein

Nach

Last time, we outlined the underlying formula which informs and directs the content of Yeshaya’s visions...

Apr 20
Apr 20 Knowing the Unknowable (Part 3): Heaven Upon Earth

Eliezer Berger

God, Knowledge Of God

I suggested that the Torah preempts the “How do we know that we know?” cycle by including all epistemological methods within a paradoxically unknowable knowledge. I’d like to bring this into focus...

Apr 19
Apr 19 Letter To The Editor: Rabbinic Thought, Individual Roles, & Communal Discourse In Modern Judaism

Anonymous

Community, Editorial

This letter from an anonymous reader is published in response to R. Yitzchak Blau’s article in the YU Commentator entitled Greek Thought, Women’s Roles, and Rabbinic Discourse at YU...

Apr 18
Apr 18 No Fear Biblical Criticism: A Postmodern Critique

Levi Morrow

Chumash, Bible Criticism

Any study of a text should take into account the ever-expanding field of literary theory. While not all literary theory is relevant to all texts, and certainly not to the study of Tanakh, there is certainly what to talk about...

Apr 15
Apr 15 Parshas Metzora: When Destroying A Home Is The Only Option

Devir Kahan

Parsha

The laws dictating what one is to do in response to contracting tzara’as are rather extreme when it comes to tzara’as of the house...

Apr 12
Apr 12 Ta’amei Ha’Mitzvos (Part 1): The Crucial Foundation

Devir Kahan

Ta'amei Ha'Mitzvos

The topic of ta’amei ha’mitzvos, or the reasons why we do mitzvos, is perhaps one of the most relevant and important topics in all of Jewish thought and philosophy...

Apr 13
Apr 13 Common Misconceptions: Swimming On Shabbos & Building Rafts

Devir Kahan

Shabbos, Misconceptions, Halacha

Misconception: Swimming on Shabbos or Yom Tov is prohibited because one might come to build a raft...

Apr 11
Apr 11 Knowing the Unknowable (Part 2): A Fair Paradox

Eliezer Berger

Knowledge Of God, God

To review, Western philosophers have several theories as to what makes something true and how we know. All the theories encounter the problem of themselves being simply accepted beliefs...

Apr 8
Apr 8 Balancing Tradition & Intellect: A Case Study Of The Difficulties Of Thinking Jews

Guest Writer

Parsha, Guest Essays

In this week's parsha, Tazria, we are quickly confronted with laws and procedures dealing with tzarat. The initial verse regarding this phenomenon is as follows...

Apr 7
Apr 7 Parshas Tazria: Understanding Bris Milah

Devir Kahan

Pesach, Parsha

In this week’s parsha the Torah commands bris milah, or circumcision. In a parsha, and series of parshios, dedicated almost exclusively to dealing with the laws of tumah and taharah, one wonders how bris milah fits into the picture. Herein we shall examine the mitzvah of bris milah and see if we can come to a better understanding of what it is really all about, and how to understand this pervasive, but seldom contemplated, practice...

Apr 5
Apr 5 Knowing The Unknowable (Part 1): Introduction

Eliezer Berger

Knowledge Of God, God, Machshavah

Being the Chosen People makes epistemology surprisingly relevant. How do we know what the truth is? How do we know what to do? What is emunah anyway? Since this is a gigantic topic, I want to provide here but a digest of the questions involved and then offer a perspective I hope will be true (no pun intended)...

Apr 5
Apr 5 Prophetic Formulas (Part 1): Yeshaya & The Assyrian Sequence

Yaacov Bronstein

Nach

Neviim are called to act as godly agents of history. Prophetic rhetoric procedurally harnesses ongoing historical developments to hopefully shape a substandard historical present into an envisioned holy future...

Apr 4
Apr 4 Common Misconceptions: Muktzah vs. Assur

Devir Kahan

Halacha, Misconceptions, Shabbos

There is an extremely prevalent misconception that certain objects are assur to touch or use on Shabbos because they are muktzah. This has things backwards, however, as the reality is that objects are muktzah because they are assur — not the other way around. The common expression of “You’re not allowed to use that because it is muktzah” should in reality be “That is muktzah because you’re not allowed to use it.”...

Apr 1
Apr 1 Parshas Shemini: Ramban, Aaron’s Psychologist

Devir Kahan

Parsha

This week’s parsha begins with Moshe’s instructions (in the name of God) to Aaron as to how he is to commence his inauguration as kohein gadol...

Mar 31
Mar 31 Hashgacha Pratis (Conclusion): How Do We View The Events Of Our Lives?

Devir Kahan

Hashgacha, Machshavah

Given our extensive study of the various major primary sources in relation to the topic of hashgacha pratis, let’s recap what we now know...

Mar 30
Mar 30 From Yaakov To Yisrael (Part 5): Bridging The Gap — The Legacy Of Yehuda & Peretz

Zach Sterman

Parsha, Yaakov To Yisrael, Chumash

In this, the final section of the series, we will explain that the legacy of Yisrael, though ostensibly not fully realized by Yaakov himself, was achieved through his children...

Mar 29
Mar 29 The Truth About Halachic Authority (Part 3): Modern Authorities

R. Moshe Shure

Halachic Authority, Halacha

In our last installment we started to mention contemporary authority without actually discussing the halachic sources for it. We also did not yet discuss the breakdown of the various components of the contemporary rabbinic makeup...

Apr 27
Apr 27 Four Tips To Make Your Sefirah Productive

Apr 26
Apr 26 The Freedom Of Pesach: Why Are You Religious?

Apr 21
Apr 21 The Awkward Requirement Of Reclining At The Seder

Apr 21
Apr 21 Prophetic Formulas (Part 2): Deconstructing Gog U’Magog

Apr 20
Apr 20 Knowing the Unknowable (Part 3): Heaven Upon Earth

Apr 19
Apr 19 Letter To The Editor: Rabbinic Thought, Individual Roles, & Communal Discourse In Modern Judaism

Apr 18
Apr 18 No Fear Biblical Criticism: A Postmodern Critique

Apr 15
Apr 15 Parshas Metzora: When Destroying A Home Is The Only Option

Apr 12
Apr 12 Ta’amei Ha’Mitzvos (Part 1): The Crucial Foundation

Apr 13
Apr 13 Common Misconceptions: Swimming On Shabbos & Building Rafts

Apr 11
Apr 11 Knowing the Unknowable (Part 2): A Fair Paradox

Apr 8
Apr 8 Balancing Tradition & Intellect: A Case Study Of The Difficulties Of Thinking Jews

Apr 7
Apr 7 Parshas Tazria: Understanding Bris Milah

Apr 5
Apr 5 Knowing The Unknowable (Part 1): Introduction

Apr 5
Apr 5 Prophetic Formulas (Part 1): Yeshaya & The Assyrian Sequence

Apr 4
Apr 4 Common Misconceptions: Muktzah vs. Assur

Apr 1
Apr 1 Parshas Shemini: Ramban, Aaron’s Psychologist

Mar 31
Mar 31 Hashgacha Pratis (Conclusion): How Do We View The Events Of Our Lives?

Mar 30
Mar 30 From Yaakov To Yisrael (Part 5): Bridging The Gap — The Legacy Of Yehuda & Peretz

Mar 29
Mar 29 The Truth About Halachic Authority (Part 3): Modern Authorities

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