Kivnei Maron
As we approach a new calendar year, Ben Corvo's poem meditates retrospectively on this past Rosh Ha-Shanah and the darkness of everyday life.
Taking Responsibility For Halakhic Guidance: A Response to Ezra Schwartz
In this response to last week’s article by Ezra Schwartz, Nathaniel Helfgot wonders whether the new pandemic-fueled trend toward centralized halakhic decision-making overburdens the most learned rabbis and takes too much autonomy from the others.
Hope
Ross Weissman offers a stirring poem on hope during the trying times of coronavirus.
When Things Go Back to Normal
Given the duration of the pandemic, should we suffice with waiting to return to normal, or are there hard-fought lesssons we can reintroduce even once the pandemic passes? Lehrhaus Consulting Editor and Director of Education at Sefaria, Sara Wolkenfeld, uses our recent experiences to gain new perspective on what tefilla, minyan and shul are really all about.
My Body in the East, My Heart in the West
What is it like to make aliyah from New Jersey precisely at a time when North American Jewry is suffering more heavily than Israel? Ahead of Yom Yerushalayim, Sarah Rindner, drawing on Yehuda ha-Levi and Yehudah Amichai, reflects.
Making Seder Out of the Zoom Seder Controversy
Shlomo Zuckier surveys and analyzes the debate over Zoom Seders during coronavirus.
Sharpening the Definition of Holeh Lefanenu: The Diamond Princess and the Limits of Quarantine
Sharon Galper Grossman and Shamai A. Grossman, leading doctors writing from quarantine, explain why even the Noda be-Yehuda, who requires that the sick person be before us, would agree that a public health crisis is subject to the leniencies of pikuah nefesh.
Signing Up for a COVID-19 Vaccine Trial
May one opt to participate in a potentially dangerous vaccine trial? This theoretical halakhic question has suddenly become all-too-urgent. Sharon Galper Grossman and Shamai Grossman explore.
“A Cruel Loss to Judaism in America”: Solomon Hurwitz, Torah u-Madda Day School Pioneer
Whom did the Spanish Flu take from our community 100 years ago? Zev Eleff introduces us to the forgotten legacy of Solomon Hurwitz, the founding principal of Yeshiva University's boys' high school, and a pioneer of Torah U-madda.
Explaining Orthodoxy’s many Responses to Coronavirus
How did major segments of Orthodoxy come to devalue the importance of community-wide health? David Werdiger of Australia considers this and more in this insightful exploration of Orthodox responses to COVID.
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