Category: Other

There are 70 different Jewish names for God. Fourteen different names of God are found in the Hebrew Bible. These are the meanings of each Biblical name

‘Ĕlōhı̄m–one of the most frequently used names in the Bible is אלהים,…

34 — Root or Route? Finding Holiness in Foreign Words

Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses the etymology of the word “totafos,” referring to the head tefilin (Shemos 13:16).

Rabbi Akiva explains that the word is composed of two foreign…

The greatest day in human history was the revelation at Mount Sinai. The Jewish people that numbered in the millions and they heard G-d’s voice as He gave the first two of the Ten Commandments.

The belief that this event actually occurred…

I wrote this poem from my classroom in Rehovot, where planes pass overhead throughout the day. Growing up near Tel Nof Air Base, the sound is familiar, interrupting lessons and thoughts. This poem is about what it feels like to live under…

The Olympics Were Never Just Sport And We Are Watching Them Break

People like to pretend the Olympics are about running faster, jumping higher, and smiling politely on podiums. That fantasy has always been convenient and completely…

When I was 20, Orthodox Judaism affixed a scarlet “A” to my chest. Or at least that’s what I told myself when I published an article after walking into the YU Beit Midrash. I wore the scorn with pride and derision. Because there’s a…

I have a habit when I travel.

Whether I’m in New York, Berlin, Budapest, or Tel Aviv, I almost always strike up a conversation with my Uber driver. It’s an easy way to take the temperature of a place — what people are worried about,…

In an age when publishers deploy “sensitivity readers” to pre‑emptively sand down the rough edges of a manuscript, it is easy to forget that an older, slower, and far more interesting form of correction once came from within: an author…

If enacted, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s proposed death penalty bill would spell moral and ultimately existential catastrophe for Israel and Jews across the world. In a recent email exchange with an astute Israeli insider, I…