Restoring the (Recitation of) Korbanot

Pressed for time, people often skip reciting the korbanot section of the morning prayers. With the High Holidays approaching, Judah Kerbel makes the case that the korbanot are far more central and halakhically significant to our prayers than we often realize.

Before, After, and During: Yehuda Amichai’s “Beterem”

In this timely article, Wendy Zierler examines how Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai's "Beterem" can provide readers with the inspiration they need leading up to the Days of Awe

When Kaddish Becomes Currency: Mapping Out the Mechanics of Merit

Moshe Kurtz explores several halakhic questions concerning the recitation of kaddish for the deceased, all of which point to a larger discussion about how one can confer merit on someone else.

Passover’s Rupture and Reconstruction

Yosef Lindell argues that the Haggadah focuses on the story of the Exodus rather than on the laws of the paschal sacrifice as a way of looking forward towards the future redemption.

Beyond the Walls of the Synagogue: Prayer as a Virtue

With lyrical prose, Natan Oliff teaches us how to view prayer as a virtue and let it enter every aspect of our lives, making us into prayerful people.

Prayerful Poetry: A Translators’ Battle that Spanned the Atlantic

Yosef Lindell recounts the controversy surrounding different attempts at translating the Tishrei prayers.

Do Children Belong in Shul?

Moshe Kurtz explores halakhic and hashkafic considerations surrounding bringing young children to shul.

Flood

As the year turns from Elul to Tishrei, enjoy Ben Corvo's collection of poems relevant to the High Holiday themes and liturgy.

Hendiadys in the Pre-Shofar Acrostic Prayer: An Introduction to an Overlooked Principle of Biblical...

In unpacking the meaning of a tricky verse from Eikhah that we say as part of the Shofar service on Rosh Hashanah, Mitchell First introduces us to the literary principle called hendiadys, which can help us understand various phrases throughout Tanakh.

“I Would Soar to the Sphere of Heaven”: Aleph and “I” in a Tishah...

In advance of Tisha Be-Av, Tzvi Novick annotates and interprets the kinnah of a’adeh ad hug shamayim by the master poet R. Eleazar ha-Kalir, unlocking its complex acrostic to determine who its speaker is meant to be.