Rabbi Louis Jacobs

The 19th-century rabbi who shaped a modern Orthodox community in bridging traditional practice and Enlightenment thinking.

The architect of American Reform Judaism

From his day until the present, Rashi has been the most beloved of all medieval teachers.

Medieval lawyer and mystic.

An introduction to the life and work of a medieval spiritual leader.

According to some thinkers, God only watches over people in a general way; according to others, divine providence extends to the minute details of life.

Rabbinic restrictions on behavior in the synagogue reveal continuing tension between ordinary Jews' sense of being at home and at ease there, and the desire of rabbis to set it apart as a sacred place.

Evidence from Qumran shows that the medieval debate about the order of biblical passages in tefillin has ancient roots.  

The details of this precept, using powerful symbols of allegiance to divine law and of membership in the Jewish religious community, have been subject to many interpretations.