Ep. 165 The Tradition of “Tradition” – Discussing the Archives with Rabbi Avraham Bronstein

“The world in which we live no longer permits us to reply to every doubt, ‘This is the law,’ or ‘The Torah says so.’ Indeed, very seldom in Jewish history were such answers sufficient. Nor were they considered desirable in a faith where proper answers always depend upon the right questions and where even Moses is depicted as constantly seeking, but never obtaining, complete understanding.” 1

The Rabbinical Council of America recently released the archives of its journal “Tradition” to the public. For those interested in Modern Orthodox Judaism and the development, Tradition is an invaluable resource as a window into its intellectual history. With all the great articles to choose from, Rabbi Yuter welcomes special guest Rabbi Avraham Bronstein to discuss some of their favorites.

Here is the list of articles discussed, all links are in PDF format.

Josh’s PicksAvraham’s Picks
Lamm, Norman. “The Religious Implications of Extraterrestrial Life.2 Tradition 7-8 (1965-1966): 5-56.Lebowitz, Yeshayahu. “In Defense of “Separation” in Israel.” Tradition 2.2 (1960): 203-217.

Gan-Zvi, Israel. “Against “Separation” in Israel.” Tradition 2.2 (1960): 218-236.

Soloveitchik, Joseph B. “Confrontation / Addendum.” Tradition 6.2 (1964). 3Geller, Victor. “How Jewish Is Jewish Suburbia?.” Tradition 2.2 (1960): 318-330.
Leibowitz, Isiah. “The Spiritual and Religious Meaning of Victory and Might.” Trans. Isaac Gottlieb. Tradition 10.3 (1969): 5-11.Rackman, Emanuel. “The Future of Jewish Law.” Tradition 6.2 (1964): 121-131.
Tendler, Moshe David. “The Anatomy of a Responsum: The Kashruth of Vinegar Produced From Wine Alcohol.” Tradition 22.4 (1987): 47-55.Wyschogrod, Michael. “The Jewish Interest in Vietnam.” Tradition 8.4 (1966): 5-18.
Lichtenstein, Aaron. “The Israeli Chief Rabbinate: A Current Halakhic Perspective.” Tradition 26.4 (1992): 26-38.Lichtenstein, Aharon, et al. “A Rabbinic Exchange on Baruch Goldstein’s Funeral.” Tradition 28.4 (1994): 59-63.

Shapira, Avraham, and Aharon Lichtenstein. “A Rabbinic Exchange on the Gaza Disengagement.” Tradition 40.1 (2007): 17-44.

Lichtenstein, Aharon, and Avraham Yisrael Sylvestky. “A Rabbinic Exchange on the Gaza Disengagement, Part Two.” Tradition 40.2 (2007): 49-70.

Other Referenced articles:
Frimer, Aryeh A. and Dov Frimer. “Women’s Prayer Services – Theory and Practice.” Tradition 30.2 (1998): 5-118.

Soloveitchik, Haym. “Rupture and Reconstruction: The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodoxy.” Tradition 28.4 (1994): 64-130.

Notable Theme Issues:

An Excel file (.xls) with a spreadsheet of every article in the Tradition archive is available here.

The Tradition of “Tradition” Audio

Notes:

  1. Sharfman, Solomon, J. “Forward.” Tradition 1.1 (1958): 5-6. p. 5. R. Sharfman was a former president of the Rabbinical Council of America.
  2. Mistakenly filed in the archive as “Terrestrial Life”
  3. The original essay “Confrontation” was published in the cited volume pages 5-29. The Addendum was published in the compilation book A Treasury of Tradition.
Send this to a friend