Articles by Jonathan Ziring

Derekh ha-Limmud: The Means, Modes, and Methodologies of Jewish Learning

Socrates famously said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”  The same can be said of the methods applied in scholarship. Almost all fields of study are dominated by methodology; it is rare to find an area of scholarship that does not attempt to approach the issues under ... Read more →

An Interview with Rabbi Robert Hirt

BY: Jonathan Ziring. Can you provide a basic history of the Orthodox Forum over the last twenty years? The Forum was started in 1989, and we are now in our twenty-first year.  The objective was to expose the yeshivah- and college-educated graduate, not just the Yeshiva University graduate, to ... Read more →

How are You Different from an Animal, and Why Should You Care?:A Halakhic-Biological Taxonomy

How are You Different from an Animal, and Why Should You Care?: A Halakhic-Biological Taxonomy BY: Jonathan Ziring When we think about Judaism and nature, many questions come to mind. Some are practical halakhic questions – questions about mitsvot ha-teluyyot ba-Arets (commandments that are ... Read more →

An Interview with Rabbi Hershel Schachter

BY: Jonathan Ziring You are on the Rabbinical Council of America’s board on gerut (conversion). Can you briefly describe what the RCA’s policies are? Under what circumstances was the RCA’s policy on gerut formulated? Did they relate to circumstances in Israel? I was not involved in the ... Read more →

Halakhah: More than Just Exegesis

Halakhah: More than Just Exegesis BY: Jonathan Ziring     One of the most important functions of talmud Torah is “la-asukei shema’teta alibba de-hilkheta,” to learn Torah with the goal of deriving practical halakhic conclusions. However, to be honest, throughout high ... Read more →

Kol Hamevaser – Creating a Torah Community

Kol Hamevaser – Creating a Torah Community BY: Jonathan Ziring     Recently, Kol Hamevaser held its first school-wide Shabbaton. Over Shabbat, I was thinking about the importance of such an event, one where people who have a common interest in Jewish thought took the opportunity to spend ... Read more →