The heart of Kohelet’s theology emerges vividly in the middle chapters of the book (chapters 4–11), which wrestle with moral confusion, the problem of evil, and the limits of human understanding. Kohelet offers neither an apologetic defense of divine justice nor a rebellious rejection of it. Instead, he articulates a response rooted in realism, humility, and disciplined joy.
Ordinarily, a title claiming that a phenomenon is transformative sounds hyperbolic. In the case of this fascinating study by Bar-Ilan University professor Adam Ferziger, however, the claim is entirely justified.
America is not just a powerful and vast country. It is also an idea, a compelling idea that has a message for all people in all lands. As American Jews, we are committed to the ideals of freedom and equality, human dignity and security, to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We have come far as a nation, but very much remains to be done.
As Americans mark Independence Day this week, we pay respect to those who fought and died to gain and maintain the freedoms which we enjoy today. We reprint an essay by the late Rabbi David de Sola Pool on George Washington's role in fostering religious freedom in the United States.
Rabbi Hayyim Angel will be giving various shiurim/lectures during the coming weeks, including some accessible via Zoom.
Haredi religious leaders in Israel believe that yeshiva students should be exempt from military service. Rabbi Alan Yuter discusses the halakhic--and practical--rejections to that approach.
Judaism does not ask us to abandon our particular commitments in the name of a universal humanity. Rather, it teaches us to see that the God who calls us into covenant is also the creator of those who stand outside that covenant.
Francis Idris offers a significant review of Rabbi Marc D. Angel's book, Maimonides, Spinoza and Us, Toward an Intellectually Vibrant Judaism.
Conversations, the journal of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, asked Rabbi Zev Eleff to address four questions about the state of Modern Orthodoxy.
Kohelet 1–3 sets the tone for a book that never settles for easy answers. In the
face of toil, impermanence, and uncertainty, Kohelet urges not despair, but
attentiveness—to fleeting joy, to moral humility, and to the awe of God that arises from
honest limitation.