Monthly Essay
Why Jews Stopped Reading the Bible, and Why Some Have Begun Again
By Ya’akov TrumpRelearning the language of nationhood.
Unlock the most serious Jewish, Zionist, and American thinking.
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Relearning the language of nationhood.
Observation
The modern world claims mastery of medicine and nature, while stripping us of an essence known since our first days in Eden.
Podcast • Episode 156
A word central to biblical ethics is at the heart of this psalm. Supplemental Materials: Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 143 in English. Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 143 in Hebrew. Click …
Monthly Essay
The case of the literary master helps explain why people who devote themselves to compassion for all so often make an exception for Jews.
Podcast • Episode 157
David gives gratitude to God for his victory in battle and for the prosperity of his kingdom. Supplemental Materials: Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 144 in English. Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm …
Course
Join Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik as he shows you how, from national symbolism to functional governance, Jewish ideas were at the very heart of the American founding.
Podcast
In this daily podcast, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik guides listeners through all 150 chapters of King David's Psalms, exploring their poetry, meaning, and enduring place in the life of faith.
A curated collection of content recognizing Jewish contributions to America's 250 year history.
Podcast
A daily 15-minute podcast guiding listeners through the entire Hebrew Bible in one year, with insightful commentary and analysis.
Podcast • Episode 155
Psalm 142 inspires us to contrast two very different texts about caves. Supplemental Materials: Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 142 in English. Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 142 in Hebrew. Click here …
Observation
Sixty years ago, Leo Strauss spoke against forsaking the Jewish heritage. Now, when assimilation appears easier than ever and when anti-Semitism has found renewed force in American politics, his message is more relevant than ever.
Course Lesson
Rabbi Soloveichik traces the life of Jonas Phillips, a German Jew who came to America in 1756 as an indentured servant and became a dedicated patriot who fathered of one of America’s most important Jewish families.
Monthly Essay
Today’s Islamism promises authenticity but is postmodern in form, postcolonial in posture, and pretends to retrieve the sacred through the techniques of the profane.
Podcast
Weekly, in-depth conversations on Jews, Judaism, America, and Israel with leading thinkers, writers, rabbis, and policymakers.
Course Lesson
What relation did the founding have to Judaism? Rabbi Soloveichik investigates the story surrounding the creation of the United States’ official seal and the committee convened to determine that what the seal would be.
Podcast • Episode 460
In 2024, the Atlantic ran a splashy feature titled “The Elite College Students Who Can't Read Books.” Professors at the Ivy League and at other elite universities reported that their students, among the most credentialed young people in the …
Monthly Essay
Two competing stories dominate the discourse on Jewish emigration and aliyah. Neither one is about the trends that actually matter.
Course
Leon Kass Teaches Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus
Observation
Fifty years on, no work by or about Jews has won American hearts so thoroughly. So what's my problem?
Course Lesson
God, Father, and Mother: The Partnership That Defines the Jewish Family: Why is honoring one's parents listed alongside commandments about God? Judaism sees family as a sacred partnership in creation and as the foundation of faith itself. Human Life …
Course
Rabbi Meir Soloveichik explores the Ten Commandments as you've never understood them before.
Response
Two leading scholars joined Mosaic's editor to look at why compassionate people, like the brilliant Russian author, can so often hate the Jews.
Observation
The Gavriel Tirosh Affair and the costs of Jewish restraint.
Podcast • Episode 153
A verb in Psalm 140 has a parallel and a very different context in the sh'ma. Supplemental Materials: Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 140 in English. Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm …
Podcast • Episode 154
A comparison between prayer and a rite in the Temple illuminates both. Supplemental Materials: Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 141 in English. Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 141 in Hebrew. Click here …
Podcast • Episode 459
From the phone that sits in his pocket, a person can now order almost anything online and have it delivered to his door the next morning. For all of human history, no one on earth had that kind of power …
Course Lesson
How Do We Know God? The First Commandment: Judah Halevi pondered why the one true God revealed Himself not merely as Creator of the Universe, but as the God of Abraham Who took Israel out of Egypt. What does this …
Course
Dr. Micah Goodman Teaches The Book of Job: Power, Justice, and Divine Ethics
Course
A comprehensive look at the history of Zionism—political, social, and religious—and the schools of anti-Zionism that have opposed it.
Response
Israel needs more conscription, more children, and more clarity on the reality of immigration and emigration.
Observation
Jewish education is being overrun by digital media that promise efficiency and convenience at the cost of mastery.
Monthly Essay
October 7 was not Palestine’s independence day, but the final nail in the two-state solution’s coffin. Is confederation with Jordan all that remains?
Course
Rabbi Jeffrey Saks Teaches The Jewish Genius of S.Y. Agnon
Podcast • Episode 458
Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia, grew up in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, fled to the Netherlands in 1992 to escape an arranged marriage, became a member of the Dutch parliament, and collaborated with the filmmaker Theo van …
Observation
A true-crime mystery in the Persian court.
Podcast • Episode 36
In Parashat Beha'alotcha, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik explores the profound impact of seemingly small events on the course of history, drawing parallels between biblical narratives and historical contingencies. The parashah, as analyzed by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, presents a series …
Podcast
Professor Ruth Wisse explores the wit and wisdom of the greatest stories in the modern Jewish literary canon.
Course Lesson
In this episode, Professor Kass discuses some of the central themes of the Book of Exodus, including the questions of how a people becomes a nation, and how human beings can bring God's holiness into the world. He also …
Podcast • Episode 1
The first two chapters of Genesis both describe the creation of mankind, but in profoundly different ways. What can these two stories, taken together, teach us about the astonishing technological achievements of our age? Text: Genesis 1-2
Monthly Essay
Many are sure that one of Judaism's central events never happened. Evidence, some published here for the first time, suggests otherwise.
Observation
Leviticus asks the individual to constrain himself today so that mankind won't lose its way tomorrow.
Course Lesson
In his opening lecture, Professor Goodman situates the Book of Job within the broader Hebrew Bible. He looks at the role it plays within Tanakh, its unique structure, and the criticism it levies against the rest of the biblical text …
Course
Great lessons can be learned from books of every kind, and in Rabbi Soloveichik’s view, a great many Jewish lessons can be found in works that, on their surface, have little relation to Judaism at all.
Monthly Essay
How generations of Arab thinkers and leaders tried to turn the humiliation of their losses to Israel into a springboard to launch their nations into an enchanted new age.
Podcast • Episode 152
In Psalm 139, David ponders the omniscience and omnipresence of the Almighty. Supplemental Materials: Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 139 in English. Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 139 in Hebrew. Click here …
Podcast • Episode 151
David speaks of praising God with a "whole heart." What does that mean? Supplemental Materials: Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 138 in English. Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 138 in Hebrew. Click …
Podcast • Episode 150
Psalm 136 may play a special role in the Passover Seder. Supplemental Materials: Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 136 in English. Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 136 in Hebrew. Click here to …
Podcast • Episode 148
A Hebrew phrase has opened the last 15 psalms. What does it mean? Supplemental Materials: Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 134 in English. Click here to listen to a recitation of Psalm 134 in Hebrew. Click …
Course Lesson
Who Is God? The Third Commandment and the Name of the Lord: What does it mean that the Creator has a personal and ineffable name? Rabbi Soloveichik explores how the sanctity of God's name illuminates the biblical vision of …
Monthly Essay
Since 2023, the Jewish state has been teetering on the edge of a constitutional crisis. Expanding the legislative branch could bring stability and maturity to Israeli democracy.
