Episodes
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Subscribers have no doubt begun to dig into TRADITIONâs recent symposium issue on âThe Challenge of Material Success,â which contains the proceedings of our Tradition Today Summit. We were delighted that one of our contributors, Michael Eisenberg, recently discussed his paper with Yaakov Wolff at the Shtark Tank podcast. The essay and conversation center on Eisenbergâs concept of âCovenantal Capitalismâ and how Jewish values have shaped his career and investing. They also discuss ways in which Torah concepts concerning economic values are best, perhaps only, able to be implemented in modern Israel.
Michael Eisenberg is the co-founder and general partner of Aleph, a Tel Aviv-based venture capital firm, and the author of, most recently, The Tree of Life and Prosperity.
The Shtark Tank podcast, hosted by Yaakov Wolff, explores a variety of relevant topics, including the challenges and possibilities at the intersection of careers and religious life for those who strive to find balance and to succeed at each in fulfilling ways. Subscribe to Shtark Tank on Spotify or all podcasting platforms. Our thanks to them for their partnership in allowing us to share this episode with listeners of the Tradition Podcast.
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TRADITIONâs most recent issue features a special section with short reflective essays on the events of October 7th and the ongoing war in Israel. In this episode, two of those authors meet to discuss the topics touched on in those very personal pieces of writing. Chaim Strauchler engages with Alex S. Ozar, who serves as a rabbi with the Orthodox Unionâs JLIC and the Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale University. Alexâs essay, âWar in Israel, in New Havenâ captures the raw emotions, trauma, and fear of last Simhat Torah. He wonders: Is the Golden Age of American Jewry, in fact, over? He shares reflections on the Jewish experience on the Yale campus over the past number of months and what that experience says about the future of American Jewry. Amidst many frightening anecdotes, he communicates optimism about his students and the prospects for future Jewish success.
Chaim Strauchler, associate editor at TRADITION, in his essay, considers how we might make the best opportunities of the current crisis, to grow and improve from amidst its ashes. Locating in Maimonidesâ teachings a call to accountability he suggests three arenas for discussion: a counter-narrative to the oppressor/oppressed duality; a renewal of Zionism; and ways to heal as a nation and a people.
You can read both of these essays open-access in our newest issue.
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Episodes manquant?
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Because TRADITION has always aspired to be more than a quarterly print journal and aims to help shape the conversation and have an impact in our religious community, about five years ago we broadened our reach by expanding our digital-direct offerings, producing shorter-form original content distributed on TraditonOnline.org and over social mediaâthis includes the podcast, expanded coverage of books and cultural criticism, and a platform to feature new authors.
Since December 2022 Yitzchak Blau has been producing âAlt+SHIFTââthatâs the keyboard shortcut allowing us quick transition between input languages on our keyboards. For many readers of TRADITION this is the move from English to Hebrew (and back again). Blau has shared his insiderâs look into trends, ideas, and writings in the Israeli Religious Zionist world to help readers from the Anglo sphere gain insight into worthwhile material available only in Hebrew. This series is now heading off on hiatus and we thought it would be a good idea to talk with its author about what heâs accomplished in the 30 installments of the column. Yitzchak Blau, Rosh Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalemâs Old City, is an Associate Editor of TRADITION.
Later in the episode, we meet Moshe Kurtz, who will be stepping in with a new series, âUnpacking the Iggerot,â exploring themes and topics at the intersection of halakha and hashkafa as they arise from the Iggerot Moshe of R. Moshe Feinstein ztâl. He joins us now for a quick preview of what we can expect from that upcoming series. Kurtz is the Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Agudath Sholom in Stamford, CT, author of Challenging Assumptions, and host of the podcast Shu”T First, Ask Questions Later.
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Yisroel Ben-Porat, a doctoral candidate in early American history at CUNY Graduate Center, is writing a doctorate on the Puritansâ use of the Hebrew Bible as a political text. In TRADITIONâs recent Fall 2023 issue he offered a historical investigation of an enigmatic early eighteenth-century figure, âRabbiâ Judah Monisâthe first known Jewish-born degree recipient and faculty member at Harvard, where he taught Hebrew for almost four decades. Monis converted in advance of his appointment, but seems to have maintained a complicated relationship with the Judaism he left (or tried to leave) behind. The Tradition Podcast spoke with Ben-Porat about this little-known chapter which opens very many questions about American Jewish identity and politics, Antisemitism, and even current events and conflict on the Harvard campus and the halls of Congress (in ways Ben-Porat could not have anticipated when he authored the essay months ago).
Read Yisroel Ben-Porat, âProtestant Rabbi: The Conversion of Judah Monis in Colonial Massachusetts,â TRADITION (Fall 2023).
Watch a video recording of this discussion.
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Listen to an introduction to TRADITIONâs upcoming Winter 2024 issue, with special content related to the ongoing war in Gaza. Jeffrey Saks observes: The initial shock, horror, and trauma of October 7th have in no way abated and all thoughts remain fixed on the âmatzavââour most abnormal situation. Writing from Israel, our editor considers the challenges for our religious community, the heartening reality of Jewish unity, and some sharp questions it poses for our way forward. Listen to this Audio Editorâs Note accompanying the new issue, due to arrive in subscribersâ hands and online next week.
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TRADITIONâs Summer 2023 issue, recently made fully open access, contained a fascinating offering penned by Michael A. Shmidman, our distinguished editor emeritus, titled âIsadore Twerskyâs Unique Contribution to the Study of The Guide of the Perplexed.â It is a presentation and analysis of five integral and interlocking components of Rabbi Professor Isadore (Yitzhak) Twerskyâs understanding of Maimonidesâ formulation of the relationship between the philosophic tradition and the Oral Law, particularly as expressed in the Moreh Nevukhim.
Shmidman suggests that all of Maimonidesâ works, as viewed by Twersky, âpromote the integration, the blending, the fusion of law and philosophy. We should not bifurcate the most central Jewish figure of the medieval era into Rambam the halakhist and Maimonides the philosopher, but rather view his work as one united entity.â Because R. Twerskyâs major scholarly focus was on the Mishneh Torah, his unique contribution to the study of The Guide of the Perplexed is, Shmidman suggests, sadly underappreciatedâand that contribution is the focus of this essay.
Michael A. Shmidman is Dean and Professor of Jewish History at Touro University Graduate School of Jewish Studies. This most recent essay originated as a lecture at a conference commemorating the 25th yahrzeit of R. Isadore Twersky convened at Yeshiva Universityâs Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University (on September 11, 2022). We thought our readers would appreciate listening to Shmidmanâs talk alongside reading his essay at TraditionOnline.org. The recordings of all the lectures at that daylong event, âUnderstanding Halakhah, History & Spirituality,â can be found on Revelâs YouTube channelâand we thank our friends at the Bernard Revel Graduate School for sharing this resource with our listeners.
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As we continue to wrestle with the state of anxiety for what comes next at this troubling and traumatic time in Israel and around the Jewish world, we take strength from demonstrations of inspiring resilience and unity in our nation. We hope youâve been following the content recently published on TraditionOnline.org responding to current events. In our upcoming Winter issue we hope to deliver some more substantive writing, tentative and initial as it may be, bringing the lens of Orthodox Jewish thought to bear on this war.
In the meantime, as we try to make sense of things while navigating the maze we find ourselves in, we thought it would be useful to check in with TRADITIONâs âelder statesman,â Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, whose wisdom, insights, and opinions cast useful light in the darknessâperhaps even more so as he enters the back end of his 10th decade with all the intellectual rigor readers of our pages have been accustomed to since his first early contribution in 1960. (Read all of R. Feldmanâs TRADITION articles and columns here.) In this episode R. Feldman chats with our editor Jeffrey Saks about the current Gaza War in light of his memories of the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War; the challenges to Zionism and religious Zionism going forward; and his cautious optimism for a renewed Jewish spirit when the fog clears and we emerge victorious. They also talked about the role of TRADITION as a scholarly journal of ideas at a time such as this.
Rabbi Emanuel Feldman served in the rabbinate in Atlanta for over 40 years before making his home in Jerusalem in 1991. He edited TRADITION from 1988 to 2001 and remains a valued counselor to our journal.
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âThe entire world is a very narrow bridge.â The world, all of life, is a ânarrow bridge,â on either side of which is a gaping, terrifying abyss. Someone who does not live this experience cannot understand it. One needs to traverse the bridge, and it is clear from an objective perspective that he is capable of doing so. This is why âthe main thing is not to fear at all.â Your greatest enemy is not outside of you, but, rather, inside of you. It is fear itself.
So writes Prof. Shalom Rosenberg zâl in his essay âA Narrow Bridge: R Nahman of Breslovâs Faith in a World of Doubtâ appearing in TRADITIONâs recent Fall 2023 issue. Rosenberg was a distinguished professor of Philosophy and Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University and a widely-regarded public intellectual. He passed away in Jerusalem in March 2023. This essay was, of course, written and sent to press before our current traumatic moment in Israel â what all agree is a time in which we must find faith in a world of confusion and many are plagued by doubt. Because Rosenbergâs essay presents itself to us with such unexpected timeliness, we thought it would be instructive to discuss it with Rabbi Dr. Zvi Leshem, himself a student of Rosenberg. Leshem is the director of the Gershom Scholem Collection for Kabbalah and Hasidism at the National Library of Israel.
Read âA Narrow Bridge: R Nahman of Breslovâs Faith in a World of Doubtâ (TRADITION, Fall 2023).
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During this time of worldwide Jewish unity, TRADITION is pleased to deliver an episode of our podcast co-produced with our friends at Matan: The Sadie Rennert Womenâs Institute of Torah Study in Jerusalem.
Our recently released Fall 2023 issue features an essay by Dr. Yosefa Fogel Wruble titled âPsalm 139: When Godâs Presence Both Overwhelms and Eludesâ which explores two exegetical prisms for Psalm 139 and the theological relevance in understanding this mizmor as a form of emotional struggle with God. Of course, when the essay was written, and when we went to press a few weeks ago, no one could have foreseen how its themes would become presciently relevant to our current momentâbut thatâs often how it is with Torah learning. We thought it would be appropriate to chat with the author about her essay in light of the events on Simhat Torah and the war.
Dr. Yosefa Fogel Wruble is a Ramit in the Womenâs Beit Midrash at Migdal Oz, a lecturer at Matan, and the host of the 1-on-1 Parsha Podcast from Matan which explores deep thematic points of the weekly Torah portion. For todayâs we turn the microphone back on her, making her the guest of this episode, for which she is joined by TRADITIONâs associate editor, Rabbi Yitzchak Blau. They discuss the feeling of being overwhelmed by God and the feeling of His absence. Wruble deepens her analysis and the conversation moves in some novel directions: How does the Psalmistâs self-expression compare to the prophetic ambivalence of Jonah and Jeremiah? What are possible responses to our paradoxical experiences of feeling both His presence and absence Which related issues have the current situation brought to the fore?
Read âPsalm 139: When Godâs Presence Both Overwhelms and Eludesâ by Yosefa Fogel Wruble (TRADITION, Fall 2023).
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TRADITION and the Rabbinical Council of America brought together authors from our recent issue on âThe Yom Kippur War After 50 Yearsâ as they discuss insights from their contributions to our pages and the sudden, tragic timeliness of that issue for events unfolding in Israel. Dr. Shlomo Fischer, Rabbi Jeffrey Saks, Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Sinensky and moderator Mrs. Mali Brofsky. TRADITION has made the content of our entire special âYom Kippur War After 50 Yearsâ issue (Summer 2023) open access as a special digital book: https://traditiononline.org/the-yom-kippur-war-after-50-years
SUBSCRIBE TO THE TRADITION PODCASTAvailable on iTunes / Spotify / SoundCloud / Stitcher / Google Podcasts
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TRADITIONâs Fall 2022 issue featured a lengthy essay by Todd Berman exploring a 6-decade-old critique launched by R. Eliezer Berkovits on Dr. Abraham J. Heschelâs âTheology of Divine Pathos.â In brief, the debate centered on Heschelâs contention that a prophet reacts to Godâs emotions, that the navi is guided by Godâs own feelings. For Berkovits, Heschel errs by aligning himself with the wrong side of the anthropomorphism and anthropopathism debate.
Berkovits was a significant figure in mid-century Orthodox Jewish thought and was an important contributor to the pages of TRADITION. A noteworthy curiosity of Berkovitsâ critique of Heschel was its appearance with an editorial note expressing some reservation about this âcontroversialâ offering, which âevoked sharp differences of opinion among members of our editorial board,â on which he served as a member at that time. Plus ça change. Bermanâs essay, with its defense of Heschel, similarly evoked sharp differences of opinion among our readers.
Todd Berman joins the TRADITION Podcast to discuss the underpinnings of the original debate between Berkovits and Heschel; how the Orthodox communityâs reception of those ideas has evolved in perhaps surprising ways over the decades; and what aroused his interest in this old episode which turns out to be still quite relevant to contemporary Jewish thought.
See Bermanâs essay, âBerkovits, Heschel, and the Heresy of Divine Pathos,â with links to Berkovitsâ original 1964 article, the array of reactions generated among our readers, and Bermanâs response.
Rabbi Todd Berman is the Director of Institutional Advancement and a Ram at Yeshivat Eretz HaTzvi.
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On April 23, 2023, TRADITION and the Rabbinical Council of America convened our first TRADITION Today Summit, hosted at Congregation Rinat Yisrael in Teaneck, NJ, exploring âMaterial Success and Its Challenges.â Among the papers presented at the event was a fascinating item co-authored by Avital Chizik-Goldschmidt and Chaim Saiman, âMaterial Success and the Rise of âModern, Orthodoxyââ â in which a lot rides on the titleâs enigmatic comma.
While the papers from the Summit will be appearing in an upcoming issue of TRADITION, in the hopes that the discussions and debates there will have a greater impact and reach within the broader community, we are rolling out some of the content through our journalâs different media arms. In this episode of our podcast, editor Jeffrey Saks (who co-chaired the Summit with Shlomo Zuckier) chats with Saiman about the paper and the unique and curious ways in which the markers of Orthodoxyâs material aspirations each respond to the halakhic requirements and religious aspirations of persons who live fully within Orthodoxy and who are invested in its continuity.
Chaim Saiman is Professor of Law and Chair in Jewish Law at Villanova Universityâs Charles Widger School of Law, and Albert J. Wood Fellow at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
Watch a video recording of the conversation.
