by R. Yitzchak Blau The issue of teaching women Gemara generates much discussion in contemporary Orthodoxy. Though traditional sources prohibit or discourage such study, the following two Tradition essays argue that we should teach women Gemara today. Rabbi Arthur Silver writes (Summer 1978) that Rambam bases his opposition to women learning on an assumption about most women’s abilities. Any woman ...

by R. Yitzchak Blau Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik’s classic essay, Kol Dodi Dofek, addresses three essential topics.  1) The Rav argues that Judaism does not try to explain the existence of evil; it calls for responding to it.  2) The Rav outlines how the founding of the state of Israel represents God knocking on the door in six different ways.  ...

by R. Yitzchak Blau Some rabbis respond to tragedy by identifying the sinful behavior that brought about divine punishment. While no one can deny this theme in our tradition, other rabbinic voices articulate why contemporary rabbis should avoid this approach. Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, community Rav in Atlanta for many years and one-time editor of Tradition, writes (Spring 2007) that humility ...

by R. Yitzchak Blau Rabbi Shubert Spero was a community Rabbi in Cleveland before making aliyah and becoming a professor at Bar Ilan University.  His contributions to Tradition span five decades.  In this essay (Winter 1999), he reads the creation and flood stories of Bereishit as metaphors.  The various stages of the former convey punctuated evolution and divine guidance of ...

by R. Yitzchak Blau Intertextuality, the idea that biblical stories use parallel language and themes to link with other biblical stories, is a staple of contemporary literary interpretation of Tanakh. As many have pointed out, Hazal often note such biblical parallels (see Bereishit Rabba 85:9,11). In this article, Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot utilizes this method to explain the source of a ...

by R. Yitzchak Blau Some biblical commentators are willing to distinguish between peshat and derash in narrative sections in Humash but will not do so when explaining legal sections. Given the care with which we transmit our halakhic tradition, we can appreciate their motivation. Nonetheless, Yeshayahu Maori, longtime professor at the University of Haifa, argues that this distinction does not ...

by R. Yitzchak Blau Some historians of the liturgy emphasize how communal practice has altered the original purpose of particular prayers. For example, individual supplications of various sages (Berakhot 17a) made their way into our formal liturgy. Kaddish, a prayer not essentially connected to mourning, became the prayer most associated with mourning. In this stimulating article from the Spring 1974 ...

by R. Yitzchak Blau Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits was an important mid twentieth century Jewish thinker who worked in the rabbinate in Leeds, Sydney, Boston, and Chicago. In this essay from the Fall 1962 issue , he explores the question of secular studies and Judaism. Unlike many other Modern Orthodox essays on this topic, this article focuses more on the need ...

by R. Yitzchak Blau I had to overcome two hesitancies before posting this week’s link.. 1) I have been reluctant to engage in the self-serving move of linking to my own articles but I figure that after twenty posts, it was okay to do so. 2) The selected article generated more discussion than my other Tradition pieces but that does ...

by R. Yitzchak Blau Rabbi Shalom Carmy began serving as editor of Tradition in 2005. Spring 2005, his first issue, includes a number of interesting articles. Dr. Yoel Finkelman analyzes two groups within the Religious Zionist world. The “right” wants to influence the larger Israeli community but has moved towards increasing isolationism which renders influence more difficult. The “left” has ...