You can also browse by author, browse by source, or search.

The Rav and the Rabbinate

Asked why he had considered, and rejected, standing to be Israel's chief rabbi, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik explained: "In my great naiveté, I dreamed of being able to democratize the rabbinate in Israel."The Paradox of Choice

"Judaism in America is faced with a paradox: Traditionally understood, being a Jew is a matter of destiny . . . But in American society today, remaining a Jew is in fact a matter of choice."God, Your Healer

The Shulhan Arukh states, "the Torah gives permission to the physician to heal; moreover, this is a mitzvah."  But how does that square with the Jewish conception of God as the ultimate healer?Rehabilitating Fagin

Charles Dickens regretted having associated Fagin's malice so closely with his being Jewish—which has forced modern adaptations to recast the Oliver Twist villain as a loveable rogue.Is Israel the New Saudi Arabia?

High-quality oil shale under exploration south of Jerusalem, coupled with offshore gas reserves already under development, could turn Israel into an energy giant.On Orthodoxy and Homosexuality

While the halakhic prohibition on homosexual relations remains, several Orthodox rabbis have advocated  the communal acceptance of individual homosexuals.  But can the same be done with same-sex families?Unmasking Anti-Semitism

"It is not because they are 'good Christians' that the Europeans are instinctively anti-Semites," wrote Zionist leader Harry Sacher. "It is because they are bad Christians, in reality repressed pagans."The Ancient Library of Alexandria

"The scholarly culture of the ancient library became the seedbed of the great philosophies of Judaism and Christianity and thus has continued to influence Western culture for two millennia."Ordinary Jews

A new translation of Yehoshue Perle's 1935 novel Yidn fun a gants yor offers "a vivid portrait of the shtetl before the Holocaust."“My Negro Problem—and Ours” at 50

"Ellison was right to excoriate me for my dismissive attitude toward black culture, and my Jewish critics were right to take offense at my questioning whether the survival of the Jewish people was worth the suffering it entailed."