PODCAST · religion
Tradition Podcast
by Tradition Online
Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought is a quarterly Orthodox Jewish peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Rabbinical Council of America. It covers a range of topics including philosophy and theology, history, law, and ethics.
Episodes
-
A Jewish Theology of Consciousness for the Age of AI
Generative Artificial Intelligence is now part of daily life—having leaped from science fiction to indispensable daily tool with alarming speed. But what does it mean for us a religious community and as thinking religious beings? If we don’t figure that out before the robot overlords carry us…
more -
No Spare Jews
Late last year TRADITION published our largest issue ever—350+ page volume on the intellectual legacy of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks zt”l, released in cooperation with the Rabbi Sacks Legacy on the occasion of his 5th yahrzeit. Among that collection’s many essays exploring R. Sacks’ thought is a...
-
The Jew in America at 250
From the Editor’s Desk: This special Semiquincentennial podcast is the capstone of our symposium at TraditionOnline.org considering “The Jew in America at 250.” It revisits a series we published in 1976 for the Bicentennial (read about both and sample all the contents). In the course of human...
-
Halakhic Mind
“Out of the sources of Halakhah, a new world view awaits formulation”—so concludes Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s Halakhic Mind, an essay penned in 1944 but only published in 1986. It is the Rav’s most philosophically dense work. As such, it is the least understood and least studied even among…
more -
Reconceiving Conceptualism
The recent annual convention of TRADITON’s publisher, the Rabbinical Council of America, was a wonderful opportunity to showcase the work of our journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought. Our editor Jeffrey Saks had a chance to conduct a session with Itamar Rosensweig, whose “Reconceiving Conceptualism”...
-
Fear and Faith in Religious Life
What is the relationship between fear and faith? This question is explored in Rivka Kahan’s recent essay, “Fear and Faith in Religious Life” (TRADITION, Spring 2026). In this episode Kahan discusses these topics with our podcast host, Mali Brofsky. Together, they think through their strategies to...
-
A Jewish Philosophy of Man (E8): The Content of the Covenant of Egypt – The Jewish Existential Community
A Lecture Series by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Lecture 8: Delivered February 26, 1959 Jewish loneliness should be transformed into the kind of prophetic solitude that embraces the uniqueness of Jewish destiny. Jewish uniqueness is expressed by the covenant. Just as the prophets felt compelled…
more -
A Jewish Philosophy of Man (e7): Prophetic Loneliness as the Solution to the Problem of Jewish Loneliness
A Lecture Series by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Lecture 7: Delivered February 12, 1959 Different people experience loneliness and aloneness differently. Some people are so preoccupied with how they impress others, with their public persona, that they lack rootedness in their own, private world....
-
Rav Moshe’s Legacy
Ta’anit Esther marks the 40th Yahrzeit of Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l. Those old enough to remember his passing no doubt recall the feeling of colossal loss for the Gadol and Posek HaDor. But, now, four decades on, we must also consider his enduring legacy for Jewish life and law. To help us out…
more -
A Jewish Philosophy of Man (E6): Judaism’s Glorification of the Anonymous Person
A Lecture Series by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Lecture 6: Delivered February 5, 1959 Continuing with the idea of Judaism’s glorification of the anonymous person, the Talmud says that the participants in the annual “kallah” Torah lectures receive divine reward not according to their intellectual...
-
A Jewish Philosophy of Man (E6): Judaism’s Glorification of the Anonymous Person
A Lecture Series by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Lecture 6: Delivered February 5, 1959 Continuing with the idea of Judaism’s glorification of the anonymous person, the Talmud says that the participants in the annual “kallah” Torah lectures receive divine reward not according to their intellectual...
-
A Jewish Philosophy of Man (E5): The Dialectical Approach to the Individual and the Community
A Lecture Series by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Lecture 5: Delivered January 15, 1959 The two Creation accounts reflect not a split in the text but a split in Man. Judaism has a dialectical view of Man, accepting mutually exclusive positions. Man was created alone as a unique and solitary being,...
-
Understanding a Jewish Philosophy of Man
This episode of the Tradition Podcast opens with the voice of Rabbi Joseph B. Solovetichik, recorded in 1958, the very year our Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought was founded. The Rav was speaking as part of a series of lectures which TRADITION has recently presented in digitally remastered form…
more -
A Jewish Philosophy of Man (E4): Judaism’s View of Man as a Lonely Being
A Lecture Series by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Lecture 4: Delivered December 18, 1958 Judaism rejects the Classical view of Man as a universal, as a mere representative of the whole, but it also rejects the modern individualistic view. The Jewish view should be reconstructed from halakhic...
-
A Jewish Philosophy of Man (E4): Judaism’s View of Man as a Lonely Being
A Lecture Series by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Lecture 4: Delivered December 18, 1958 Judaism rejects the Classical view of Man as a universal, as a mere representative of the whole, but it also rejects the modern individualistic view. The Jewish view should be reconstructed from halakhic...
-
New/Old American-Jewish Realities
For much of the modern era, Jewish life rested, quietly but decisively, on an implicit promise. Power would be constrained by law. The State would bind itself to rules not solely invented for its own advantage. The weak would be protected not by benevolence but by structure. Jews, long practiced…
more -
A Jewish Philosophy of Man (E3): Three Approaches to Man
A Lecture Series by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Lecture 3: Delivered December 4, 1958 Modern philosophy knows of three approaches to the question, what is Man: the Biblical, the Classical Greek, and the modern scientific views. The Classical Greek and Biblical anthropologies agree that man is...
-
A Jewish Philosophy of Man (E2): Methodology for a Jewish Religious Anthropology, from Metaphysical to Practical
A Lecture Series by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Lecture 2: Delivered November 20, 1958 The unique Jewish viewpoint should be placed in the context of Occidental (Western) thought and religion. However, we must avoid the danger of applying the categories and the question-set of the scientific…
more -
JPM Lecture 1: Introduction to the Jewish Philosophy of Man
A Jewish Philosophy of Man: A Lecture Series by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Lecture 1: Delivered November 6, 1958 Judaism, and religion in general, is a cognitive venture, seeking to intellectually grasp the world, and is not merely an emotional or ethical gesture. Unlike the scientist, who…
more -
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…
more -
Mrs. Cooperman’s Shabbat
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...
-
Rabbi Sacks on the Joys and Dangers of Leadership
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…
more -
Radical Resilience: Hope, Agency and Community
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...
-
Historical Realities and Educational Methodologies
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...
-
Tradition Today Summit
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…
more -
Not By Might
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...
-
The Intellectual Legacy of Rabbi Sacks
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…
more -
Jane Austen and Halakhic Morality
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…
more -
PODCAST: Children of the Book
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...
-
Catching Up with TraditionOnline
In this episode of the Tradition Podcast we update our listeners on some happenings over on our website, TraditionOnline.org. Check out the Tradition Summer Book Endorsements: Our yearly tradition of turning to our esteemed editorial board for endorsements for summer reading. Some may be amused…
more -
Rambam in the Yeshiva and the University
This episode of the Tradition Podcast features an engaging conversation about current scholarship on Maimonides—the “Great Eagle.” TRADITION’s Winter 2025 issue presented a review essay by Marc Herman on Prof. Mordechai Akiva Friedman’s Ha-Rambam u-Genizat Kahir [Maimonides and the Cairo Geniza]...
-
R. Lichtenstein on Women’s Torah Study
TRADITION’s subscribers have already received our special Spring 2025 issue, containing content commemorating R. Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l, timed with his 10th yahrzeit marked this month. Five years ago we were pleased to publish Rabbanit Tonya Mittelman’s essay, “Women in the Torah World in the...
-
Rav Lichtenstein’s Legacy
This episode of the Tradition Podcast is being released on Rosh Hodesh Iyar, the tenth yahrzeit of Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l. In eulogizing his father-in-law, Rabbi Soloveitchik, R. Lichtenstein observed that the Rav was a “sui generis sage—he bestrode American Orthodoxy like a colossus,...
-
COVID+5 Panel Discussion
Readers of TraditionOnline.org have been following our week-long series COVID+5,where we’ve been exploring the lasting impact of the pandemic on Jewish education, communal life, and spirituality. Through the insights and reflections of a diverse group of authors we’ve considered how COVID…
more -
The COVID Seder
With Passover around the corner our minds are on the many preparations required to join our families around the Seder Table—and yet, who can forget the events of five years ago, when so many of us were isolated, locked-down, sheltering in place during that COVID Pesach of 2020. We’re pleased to...
-
Religious Zionism’s Triple Cord
In this episode of the Tradition Podcast, our associate editor Yitzchak Blau interviews author, researcher, and Makor Rishon columnist Yair Sheleg about his recent Hebrew book HaHut HaMeshulash, whose English title might be offered as The Triple Chord: A Short History of Religious Zionism...
-
Esther, the Spies & Faith
In this episode of the TRADITION Podcast, Mali Brofsky and Mark Smilowitz discuss the central thesis of his recent essay, “Esther and the Spies: A Bible-Based Symbolic Meaning of Walled Cities from the Time of Joshua” which appeared in our Fall 2024 issue and is now open access at...
-
The Halakhic Philosophy of Forgiveness
What is the purpose of forgiveness? How necessary is it to maintain working social order – within the body politic or within the smaller circles of religious community or family? Is forgiveness the work and responsibility of the offender (to seek it) or the offended party (to willfully grant it)?...
-
War Writing Week
R. Jonathan Sacks observed that “Jews have survived catastrophe after catastrophe, in a way unparalleled by any other culture. In each case, they did more than survive. Every tragedy in Jewish history was followed by a new wave of creativity.” Even at this early date, we have begun to witness the...
-
Maimonides as Rabbi and Philosopher
TRADITION’s Summer 2024 issue contained expanded book review coverage including a review by Menachem Kellner of ArtScroll’s new anthology of Maimonidean philosophy, Kisvei HaRambam: Writings of Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon – The Rambam, translated, annotated, and elucidated by R. Yehuda Meir Keilson.…
more -
The Ideology of Hesder Revisited
TRADITION and the Rabbinical Council of America recently hosted R. Mosheh Lichtenstein, Rosh Yeshivat Har Etzion, for a conversation revisiting a classic essay from our archives: R. Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l, “The Ideology of Hesder” (TRADITION, Fall 1981), using it as a lens to explore…
more -
The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic
TRADITION’s recent Summer 2024 issue contained expanded book review coverage including a review by Yitzhak Blau on Gila Fine’s new “The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic: Rereading the Women of the Talmud” (Maggid Books & Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies). Blau says this book carries the rare...
-
“Bittersweet” with Susan Cain
It’s become a tradition at TRADITION that each year we turn to our esteemed editorial board for endorsements for summer reading (read this year’s picks here). This summer our friend and colleague Mali Brofsky highlighted the work of author Susan Cain, specifically in her recent #1 NY Times...
-
R. Feinstein on Brain Death, Revisited
In the area of Jewish medical ethics brain death is the topic which just will not die. With the advent of technologies and medical developments since the mid-twentieth century, questions about the halakhic definition of death have gone from the largely theoretical (and philosophical) to painfully...
-
A Wayward Generation
TRADITION’s Winter 2024 issue (now fully open access) featured a review by R. Gidon Rothstein of R. Elisha Aviner’s Hebrew volume, Dor Tahpukhot, whose English title might read A Guide for Parents Whose Children Have Distanced Themselves from Observance (Sifiyat Hava). The book is a practical,...
-
Covenantal Capitalism
Subscribers have no doubt begun to dig into TRADITION’s recent symposium issue on “The Challenge of Material Success,” 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...
-
PODCAST: War in Israel at Yale
TRADITION’s 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…
more -
Alt+SHIFT Exit Interview
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...
-
A Colonial Protestant Rabbi at Harvard
Yisroel Ben-Porat, a doctoral candidate in early American history at CUNY Graduate Center, is writing a doctorate on the Puritans’ use of the Hebrew Bible as a political text. In TRADITION’s recent Fall 2023 issue he offered a historical investigation of an enigmatic early eighteenth-century...
-
AUDIO EDITOR’S NOTE: The Abnormal Matzav
Listen to an introduction to TRADITION’s 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 “matzav”—our most abnormal…
more
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought is a quarterly Orthodox Jewish peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Rabbinical Council of America. It covers a range of topics including philosophy and theology, history, law, and ethics.
HOSTED BY
Tradition Online
CATEGORIES
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Tradition Podcast have?
Tradition Podcast currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Tradition Podcast about?
Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought is a quarterly Orthodox Jewish peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Rabbinical Council of America. It covers a range of topics including philosophy and theology, history, law, and ethics.
How often does Tradition Podcast release new episodes?
Tradition Podcast has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Tradition Podcast?
You can listen to Tradition Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Tradition Podcast?
Tradition Podcast is created and hosted by Tradition Online.
URL copied to clipboard!