Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity

Eli Rubin’s Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity (Stanford University Press) presents a groundbreaking study of Chabad Hasidism. Through close readings of primary texts, historical analysis, and engagement with modern philosophy, Rubin, a scholar and Chabad insider, traces the historical evolution of the movement’s theology. The result is an indispensable work for anyone wanting to better understand Chabad’s intellectual and historical trajectory. Todd Berman, author of a recent TRADITION review of Rubin’s book, conducted an in-depth interview with the author at Yeshivat Eretz HaTzvi. The discussion examined Rubin’s argument that modernity, viewed through the Kabbalistic lens of tzimtzum and cosmic “rupture,” profoundly reshaped modern thought in addition to the inner intellectual life of Chabad-Lubavitch and its spiritual vision. A key focus of the conversation was how Rubin’s ideas speak to the challenges faced by young Modern Orthodox students and how mystical and existential thought can enrich their search for meaning, faith, and identity in the modern world. Rabbi Eli Rubin is a contributing editor at Chabad.org. He received his Ph.D from University College London.  Rabbi Todd Berman is the Director of Institutional Advancement at Yeshivat Eretz HaTzvi where he teaches Jewish Thought and Halakha. The conversation was recorded live at Jerusalem’s Yeshivat Eretz HaTzvi on December 4, 2025, and contains questions from students in the audience.The post Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity first appeared on Tradition Online.

This week we’ll celebrate Shabbat, Rosh Hodesh, Hanukka—and all readers of TRADITION know what that means: Its Mrs. Cooperman’s Shabbat and a chance to check in with our distinguished editor emeritus, Rabbi Emanuel Feldman. 30 years ago, R. Feldman published one of our journal’s most memorable essays, “God and Mrs. Cooperman” (Winter 1995). Like other memes that have emerged from our pages—Adam I and Adam 2, Majesty and Humility, Rupture and Reconstruction—the concept of a “Mrs. Cooperman Shabbat” is now a handy heuristic to help us organize a way of thinking about contemporary religious life and what’s been lost, and what’s been gained, as Orthodoxy has flourished since the original Mrs. C sat in the pews of R. Feldman’s father’s Baltimore shul over 80 years ago. R. Feldman joined our current editor, Jeffrey Saks, to discuss how his perspective on these issues have evolved over his long life.The post Mrs. Cooperman’s Shabbat first appeared on Tradition Online.

TRADITION is pleased to share this recording of a talk by Dr. Erica Brown delivered through Yeshiva University’s Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership, commemorating the recent 5th yahrzeit of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Brown speaks about her contribution to TRADITION’s special issue on the Intellectual Legacy of Rabbi Sacks, titled “Staying Alive: The Dangers of Leadership” (open access at TraditionOnline.org). The essay examines the theme of leadership in a variety of R. Sacks’ works, exploring both his methodology and how to situate his thinking within the broader academic discipline of leadership. R. Sacks focused on how to inspire and motivate lay and professional leaders within the Jewish community. To that end, he distilled his wisdom into seven principles of leadership, which reflected the leadership dilemmas and crises he faced and during his own tenure as Chief Rabbi. Dr. Erica Brown, consulting editor at TRADITION, serves as a Vice Provost at Yeshiva University and is the founding director of its Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership. Watch a video recording of this session. Learn more about the special issue dedicated to Rabbi Sacks’ Intellectual Legacy, and order your copy (print or for Kindle).The post Rabbi Sacks on the Joys and Dangers of Leadership first appeared on Tradition Online.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks believed that, out of the science of positive psychology, and in conversation with cognitive behavioral therapy, a new Musar movement could be established. In this episode of the Tradition Podcast, Tamra Wright and Mordechai Schiffman begin to unpack what this might mean in light of their co-authored essay “Radical Resilience: Hope, Agency and Community,” from TRADITION’s recent special issue on the intellectual legacy of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. They are joined for the conversation by that volume’s co-editor, Samuel Lebens. Together, our three guests explore the relationship between hope, agency, and community; they consider whether Rabbi Sacks was unduly harsh on optimists; and discuss why he placed more faith upon philosophically inspired psychology than upon the main contemporary schools of academic philosophy. What does it mean for Torah to be in conversation with a science like psychology? What does it mean for students of a rabbi to turn their critical gaze towards their late teacher, who now becomes an object of their ongoing research? Watch a video recording of this conversation. See details of the special double-issue of TRADITION and order your copy. Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman is an assistant professor at Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School and the associate rabbi at Kingsway Jewish Center. Dr. Tamra Wright is a Senior Research Fellow at the London School of Jewish Studies. Rabbi Dr. Samuel Lebens is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Haifa.    The post Radical Resilience: Hope, Agency and Community first appeared on Tradition Online.

As part of the Tradition Today Summit, held on November 9, 2025, convened by Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Studies and TRADITION’s publisher the Rabbinical Council of America, we hosted a community wide public Keynote Address by Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter on “Historical Realities and Educational Methodologies: Then and Now.” This was the capstone to a daylong closed conference exploring “Educating Our Children to Be Ovdei Hashem in a Modern World: Challenges and Opportunities.” Evening Keynote Address Program Greetings: R. Jeffrey Saks, Editor, TRADITION R. Chaim Strauchler, Rinat Yisrael & TRADITION R. Menachem Penner, Executive Vice-President, RCA Lecture: R. Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, Yeshiva University Respondents: R. Dr. Michael Berger, Dean, Azrieli Graduate School Ms. Miriam Krupka Berger, Associate Principal, Ramaz Upper School Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Kobrin, Rosh Yeshiva & Head of School, North Shore Hebrew Academy View the lecture’s accompanying source packet. The Tradition Today Summit was hosted at Congregation Rinat Yisrael, in Teaneck, NJ, and supported by Henry and Golda Reena Rothman    The post Historical Realities and Educational Methodologies first appeared on Tradition Online.

On Sunday, November 9th, 75 Jewish educators, rabbis, lay-leaders, and thought leaders gathered for the second Tradition Today Summit, convened together with Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and TRADITION’s publisher, the Rabbinical Council of America, on “Educating Our Children to Be Ovdei Hashem in a Modern World: Challenges and Opportunities.” Together we considered what we can do as a community to educate the next generation of committed Ovdei Hashem? How can students be guided to engage deeply with Jewish life and learning while navigating the challenges of a rapidly changing world? Questions such as these define the landscape of contemporary Jewish education. This second Tradition Today Summit explored how we confront these issues in different contexts: from the New York area to so-called “out-of-town” communities; from American gap-year programs in Israel to local schools and synagogues. Classical Jewish sources, Hasidic thought, and ideas from general educational teachings provide valuable perspectives for addressing these concerns. Central issues to be considered include the role of technology in the classroom and students’ lives more broadly, strategies for supporting different types of students, and models for fostering genuine spirituality. The discussion will highlight the range of approaches within Modern Orthodoxy and the broader challenges facing Jewish education today. View the program schedule. The conference proceedings will appear in an upcoming special issue of TRADITION. Listen to the opening remarks of the assembly with Rabbi Jeffrey Saks (Editor of TRADITION), Rabbi Etan Tokayer (President, RCA), and Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman (President, Yeshiva University).The post Tradition Today Summit first appeared on Tradition Online.

In this episode of our podcast, Tzvi Sinensky,  co-editor of TRADITION’s special issue on the intellectual legacy of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, speaks with author Alex Israel about his essay in the volume, “Not by Might: Aversion to Power in Rabbi Sacks’ Writings.” They begin with Rabbi Sacks’ 2016 debate with Rabbi Shlomo Riskin on the pages of The Jewish Review of Books about Judaism’s complicated relationship with power. From there, the conversation turns to Rabbi Sacks’ reading of Genesis as a rejection of myth and his vision of “Divine Image” as a moral counterweight to power. They discuss how Rabbi Sacks imagined a covenantal society bound by a shared narrative, and how he might have responded in the wake of October 7th. Watch a video recording of this conversation. See details of the special double-issue of TRADITION and order your copy. Rabbi Alex Israel, author, podcaster and international lecturer, teaches at Midreshet Lindenbaum, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi, and the Rabbi Sacks Legacy. Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Sinensky is Director of the Lamm Legacy Project, and Director of Judaic Studies at Main Line Classical Academy.The post Not By Might first appeared on Tradition Online.

Listen to the recording of our online event marking the publication of TRADITION‘s special volume, published in partnership with the Rabbi Sacks Legacy, exploring the intellectual legacy of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l (November 2, 2025). Host: Jeffrey Saks, with greetings from Menachem Penner and Gila Sacks. Editors Samuel Lebens and Tzvi Sinensky in conversation with authors Dov Lerner, Raphael Zarum, and Malka Z. Simkovich. Learn more about this volume or order a copy. Watch the video recording of the event.The post The Intellectual Legacy of Rabbi Sacks first appeared on Tradition Online.

December 16th will mark the 250th birthday of the renowned English novelist Jane Austen, and “Janeites” (as her fans call themselves) are aflutter worldwide. In this episode of the TRADITION Podcast Mali Brofsky chats with Yaffa Aranoff about her recent essay “The Perils of Gentle Selfishness: Jane Austen’s Emma and Halakhic Morality,” TRADITION 57:1 (Winter 2025). Brofsky and Aranoff are both avid lovers of Austen’s writing, and in this conversation they discuss  how her novel Emma interacts with Aranoff’s reading of Hazal’s understanding of the principle to not “put a stumbling block before the blind,” revealing the depths of Austen’s wisdom and Hazal’s ethical sensitivity. The conversation concludes with a few words about Austen’s literary skill as it is conveyed through Mansfield Park, which was Brofsky’s pick for our 2025 Summer Book Endorsements.  They also consider Austen’s philosophy of virtue and the ways it is conveyed in her writing. Altogether, this episode serves as a demonstration of engagement with “the best” in literature, showing how it can redound to our growth as thinking religious beings. Yaffa Aranoff teaches at Midreshet Lindenbaum’s Darcheynu program and at other institutions in Jerusalem. Mali Brofsky, a member of TRADITION’s editorial board, is a senior faculty member at MMY and a social worker in private practice. Watch a video recording of this conversation.The post Jane Austen and Halakhic Morality first appeared on Tradition Online.

For many mothers, especially literary-minded ones, raising young children may feel like an intellectual regression. In this episode of the TRADITION Podcast, Ilana Kurshan and Sarah Rindner Blum discuss how the time spent reading books with our children can also yield profound intellectual and spiritual insights, not to mention deeper and more enjoyable relationships. Kurshan’s new book, Children of the Book: A Memoir of Reading Together (St. Martin’s Press), explores the ways in which reading books and learning Torah in the context of family life can be uplifting and transformative. In their conversation, Ilana and Sarah compare repeatedly reading the same children’s books to prayer, and the rejection of screens in favor of books to the Biblical transition from idolatry to monotheism. They also delve into the unique challenges of raising enthusiastic English language readers in Israel. Sarah Rindner Blum, a teacher and writer living in Israel, reviewed Children of the Book in TRADITION’s recent Summer 2025 issue. Ilana Kurshan’s first memoir, If All the Seas Were Ink, won the Sami Rohr Prize in Jewish Literature. Watch a video recording of this conversation.    The post PODCAST: Children of the Book first appeared on Tradition Online.