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Shamai Leibowitz

Aug 21, 2026, 8:37 AM

The Stranger in Your Tent

What do returning lost property, a desert tent, and the Arabic greeting—adopted by many Hebrew speakers—Ahlan wa sahlan ("welcome") have in common? They all have a connection to the Semitic root: א-ה-ל (A-H-L). While Hebrew kept Ohel (אֹהֶל) as the physical tent, Arabic came to use ahl (أَهْل) to mean the family living inside it....

Aug 21, 2026, 5:32 AM

The Parameters of Justice (Ki Teitse, Covenant & Conversation)

In Deuteronomy 24, we encounter - for the first time - the explicit statement of a law of far-reaching significance: “Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for parents. A...

Aug 18, 2026, 6:08 PM

Who Should Build the Railing?

Why prevention deserves as much of our attention as blame after tragedy. Turn on daytime television for any length of time and the commercials become familiar. Have you been injured in an accident? Were you harmed by a medical procedure?...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Aug 17, 2026, 7:07 PM

The role of the roof

In Parshat Ki Tetze (Dvarim 22:8) we learn about the importance of fencing in the roof of a building: “When you build a new home, you are to make a fence for your roof…” What were roofs like in Biblical...

Talyah Ginsberg

Aug 14, 2026, 2:30 PM

Justice, justice shall you pursue — preferably after coffee

Gavel and coffee. (iStock)

Elul's court means we must first give up our double-standards and only then demand leaders who do more than look thoughtful in photos (Shofetim)

Aug 13, 2026, 3:09 PM

7 questions to Haredi leaders on not drafting to the Israeli army

Ultra-Orthodox rabbis, including Degel HaTorah party spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando, attend a rally against the arrest of draft-dodging yeshiva students outside of the military prison at Beit Lid, August 14, 2025. (Sam Sokol/The Times of Israel)

Ultra-Orthodox rabbis relate to the IDF and to the possibility of their own drafting in ways that seem to undermine the very Torah they say they are protecting

Aug 12, 2026, 2:24 PM

Why Did the Kessim Laugh at Elijah’s Chair?

At the most recent session of Ono Academic College’s Beit Midrash of Bete Israel (Ethiopian Jewish) Rabbis and Kessim (traditional Bete Israel spiritual leaders), one of the Kessim looked around with a half-smile and asked: “What is this thing...

Jaclyn S. Clark

Aug 10, 2026, 3:48 PM

I argue with an AI at midnight. It’s the most Jewish thing I do

When AI agents went rogue and followed each other into mischief, they exposed a problem older than computers. An ancient Jewish method could have stopped them

Aug 10, 2026, 8:04 AM

Private Struggle, Public Assault: Protecting Torah Life in the Digital Age

A troubling trend has become increasingly visible in our communities, particularly online: individuals who have chosen to leave a Torah-observant way of life are publicly expressing dissatisfaction, doubts, and rejection of Jewish belief and practice. Some posts are personal...

Aug 6, 2026, 6:21 PM

Book review – Foundations and Concepts in Lomdus

For many students of Gemara, there comes a moment when the discussion on the page begins to reveal something deeper. The give-and-take of the Talmudic sugya, the unit of discussion, yields an underlying conceptual architecture in which legal principles,...

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