In Search of Modern Orthodoxy

In introducing his embrace of Rav Shagar, Rabbi Dr. Gil Perl details his personal journey of being initially excited, then disappointed with the writings of our...

The Baptized Jew Who Had a Lot to Teach Us about Orthodox Judaism

Peter Berger, Daniel Korobkin argues, offers an important lens to understand Orthodox Judaism, its religious features and institutions.

Racism and Religious Particularism: A Corrective Antidote

Do Jewish texts teach racism? It depends on how you read them, answers Chaim Trachtman.

Postmodern Orthodoxy: Giving Voice to a New Generation

Gil Perl draws from Rav Shagar to argue that "Postmodern Orthodoxy turns its gaze inward toward the conflicts raging within the individual as he or she seeks out meaning and strives for relevance.

Rabbinic Creativity and the Waters that would Consume the World

Levi Morrow explores how the Rabbis use creative exegesis to save the world from drowning in a flood

Resurrecting Moses Mendelssohn

Tzvi Sinensky As chronicled in Robert Putnam’s 2000 classic book, Bowling Alone, loneliness is one of the vexing challenges of modern life. The advent of the...

Are Modern Orthodox Jews More Comfortable with Mysticism or Anthropomorphism?

This siddur, Yaakov Jaffe argues, is where to look to find out what Orthodox Jews believe.

Narcissus and the Nazir

Tzvi Sinensky explores the Talmudic version of the Roman myth of Narcissus

A Religion Without Visual Art? The Rav and the Myth of Jewish Art

If Kant or Hegel had read Rambam or the Shulhan Arukh, they might have known that Jewish law does not actually proscribe the creation of images. But that was not the way of history. It is important to reclaim visual culture and aesthetics for religious Judaism so that beauty can be allowed to inspire halakhically bound actions, to color worship, and give meaning to our rituals.

Netivot Shalom: A Mixed Blessing?

Those of us who feel deeply connected and indebted to Hasidism should ask ourselves a difficult and perhaps painful question: Is Netivot Shalom the sefer that we want to represent us to the rest of Am Yisrael?