Monthly Essay
Despair Not!
By Ruth R. WisseUnderstanding and defeating the assault on Jewish moral self-confidence.
Unlock the most serious Jewish, Zionist, and American thinking.
Subscribe NowMonthly Essay
Understanding and defeating the assault on Jewish moral self-confidence.
Podcast • Episode 46
This exquisite psalm gives us a one-sentence soliloquy.
Observation
For almost 100 years, appeasement of Arab violence has paid bloody dividends. The lesson has yet to sink in.
Podcast • Episode 48
The second half of Psalm 44 cries out to God in the midst of catastrophe but still finds a way to sustain faith.
Podcast • Episode 47
Psalm 44 describes a period devoid of the miracles of the past—but therein we discover another miracle.
Observation
A look at the phenomenon by which Yiddish words become English words under the influence of other, similar-sounding English words.
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.
Podcast • Episode 443
A rabbi and a reverend walk into a conference.
Podcast
A daily 15-minute podcast guiding listeners through the entire Hebrew Bible in one year, with insightful commentary and analysis.
Podcast • Episode 442
A seismic shift in the Middle East.
Course Lesson
In this story, Yudka, a young kibbutznik, delivers a radical sermon arguing that Zionism must break from diasporic Jewish existence and all of Jewish tradition. Yet Yudka's fervent outburst leaves his...
Course
Leon Kass Teaches Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus
Podcast • Episode 45
Why do the sons of Korach, an adversary of Moses, merit their own psalm?
Podcast
Weekly, in-depth conversations on Jews, Judaism, America, and Israel with leading thinkers, writers, rabbis, and policymakers.
Podcast
Professor Ruth Wisse explores the wit and wisdom of the greatest stories in the modern Jewish literary canon.
Observation
The spy show seems so accurate I found myself wondering whether its creators are themselves former Mossad agents who spent time in the titular city.
Course
Delve into the masterpieces of modern Jewish literature with one of the world’s foremost interpreters of Jewish fiction.
Observation
On Martin Luther King Day, the ghost of the great civil-rights leader was summoned to condemn Israel. The problem? While alive, King had plenty of opportunities to do so—and never did.
Monthly Essay
With a new nuclear deal on the way, attention is again turning to Iran. Four recent books, plus the deal itself, suggest that America and Europe are blind to the regime's motivating spirit.
Podcast • Episode 44
The sages note a comparison between Moses and David, and the Torah and Tehillim.
Response
Committed to developing and supporting the intellectual, religious, and political leaders of the Jewish people and the Jewish state.
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...
Podcast • Episode 439
Paying tribute to a great defender of America, Israel, and the art of argument.
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.
Course Lesson
Sholem Aleichem's breakout story follows Moshe, a naive young scholar whose first trip away from home devolves into a comic nightmare involving a dead woman, an amoral shtetl, and the Russian police....
Observation
For Hashem, for country, and for Yale.
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 Lesson
Not long after the Children of Israel escape Egypt, they come to Mount Sinai. There, they enter into a covenant with God. In this episode, Professor Kass thinks about the nature of covenant and why th...
Observation
The rulers of the Gulf states are cheering every Israeli strike. But they now have less incentive to improve diplomatic relations with Jerusalem.
Monthly Essay
Three catastrophes, all marked by euphoria at the start and denial at the end, have shaped the Palestinian predicament. Has the fourth arrived, and is the same dynamic playing out?
Podcast • Episode 20
Explore how ancient bread-making redefines matzah as a symbol of freedom and Jewish eternity, rooted in the biblical text of Exodus 12-14.
Course Lesson
I.L. Peretz, a towering figure of Yiddish culture, used his stories to challenge Jewish complacency and inspire moral courage. In "Bontsha the Silent," he critiques a culture of docility through a fol...
Observation
Jews vs. Rome bridges the great historiographic divide.
Podcast
Join Rabbi Meir Soloveichik for a year-long journey through all 613 commandments of Judaism.
Podcast • Episode 1
Explore how Genesis 1-2's creation stories reveal insights into today's technological marvels and their profound implications for humanity.
Course
Dr. Micah Goodman Teaches The Book of Job: Power, Justice, and Divine Ethics
Podcast • Episode 301
The last words of 2 Chronicles 36 offer a profound hint about the era we inhabit, bridging ancient wisdom with modern understanding.
Podcast • Episode 43
David describes what it means for Scripture to be inscribed on our soul.
Observation
The contrast between New Testament forbearance and Hebraic hard-heartedness is an idea that won't die.
Monthly Essay
It's long been the greatest question about the war: why Israel waited to be attacked. But what if it was convinced to wait by its closest ally, the United States?
Course Lesson
In this shocking story, Lamed Shapiro confronts the moral and psychological devastation of anti-Semitic violence in early 20th-century Eastern Europe. By addressing the pogrom phenomenon from all angl...
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
Discover the history, meaning, and soul-shaping purpose of the prayers Jews recite each and every day.
Course Lesson
Every person comes to the Book of Exodus with pre-existing ideas about God. In this conversation, Professor Kass challenges us to set those preconceptions aside and think about God as He is presented...
Podcast • Episode 42
Psalm 39 reminds us that we are part of a larger story.
Podcast • Episode 38
A psalm’s central verse is about genuine moral enlightenment.
Podcast • Episode 428
Will this outstanding innovation bring back the October 6 mindset?
Observation
The controversial terms, unlike “West Bank,” were in common use until 1948.
Podcast
Discover the Torah‘s profound political wisdom in this exploration of the weekly parashah.
Course
A comprehensive look at the history of Zionism—political, social, and religious—and the schools of anti-Zionism that have opposed it.
