Adam Kirsch is a contributing editor for Tablet Magazine and the author of Benjamin Disraeli, a biography in the Nextbook Press Jewish Encounters book series.
Talmudic rabbis debate professional eulogizers, trying to strike a balance between the holy and the mundane
Is Jewish rebellion really a form of submission? Two new novels and one political critic examine apostasy.
So much of the Talmud is about working the land, and the rules that govern labor, profit, and loss
In this week’s ‘Daf Yomi,’ Talmudic rabbis debate the value of recycling, upselling, renovation, and sacred trash
What happens when the most authoritative guardians of the tradition are sometimes baffled by the tradition themselves?
Antic embellishments, like Esther being good in bed, help Talmudic rabbis to more fully explicate the text’s divine meaning
Talmudic rabbis, like us, can only study the course of history for the elusive signs of God’s intentions
In a struggle against the idea of history, Jewish life strives to change as little as possible, even when new religions take over
What Adam Bellow and other conservatives get wrong about the political leanings of creators of imaginative fiction
Talmudic rabbis debate Jewish solidarity in the face of misfortune, a communal imperative that still holds today
The Torah sages study and respond to natural phenomena in an effort to understand our place on Earth
Judaism became a religion of laws, haunted and bound by the absence of a home for Jewish sovereignty
6:55 PM —
Israeli police rule out criminality in death of 23-year-old last seen hiking
6:19 PM —
San Diego Chargers commentator will sit next game out after ‘cheap’ joke
4:25 PM —
Leading Reform rabbi cites newspaper’s one-sided coverage of Gaza war
1:09 PM —
If Jews make Israeli policy, do Wasps run England?
11:20 AM —
Update: 81-year-old comedian’s condition upgraded from critical to stable
11:00 AM —
Digitized archive features iconic images of pre-war Jewish life in Europe
10:36 AM —
Rabbi and his wife killed during 2008 rampage that left more than 150 dead
8:53 AM —
It’s called ‘Home,’ and its release is extremely well-timed
5:05 PM —
After 50 days of fighting, Israel and Hamas agree to Egypt-mediated truce
By Matti Friedman — A former AP correspondent explains how and why reporters get Israel so wrong, and why it mattersBy Richard A. Block — Leading Reform rabbi cites newspaper's one-sided coverage of Gaza warBy James Kirchick — Why ‘Islamophobia’ in Europe cannot be equated with anti-Semitism, either in nature or degree
Some people lean on neighbors for a cup of sugar. The Fruchters, of Memphis, Tennessee, needed theirs to help them keep the Sabbath.
Forging ancient artifacts, procuring army sick passes, and pretending to be normal after a traumatic brain injury
After making a splash back home, the creators of the Hebrew-language program are launching an English version on Vox Tablet
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