Sruli Fruchter

I Read This Over Shabbos is a weekly newsletter about Jewish book culture, book recommendations, and modern ideas. Receive this free newsletter…

The delicacy of faith is more noticeable in times of crisis. We expect, or hope, that our beliefs will always survive life’s…

After witnessing the aftermath of the Kishinev Pogrom in 1903, Hayyim Bialik wrote his famous poem, “The City of Slaughter,” about The…

Anyone who has studied Israeli history with any degree of seriousness should know the name “Benny Morris.” Once a left-winger who ushered…

Everyone has found their media refuge of choice for feeling, thinking, and working through the Israel-Hamas war.  Some seek traditional media outlets—say,…

Discourse surrounding the social, political, or religious realities of Israel almost inevitably falls back on the same crutch of a response: “It’s…

“Sin” is the blockage, the obstructions, in life—how do we avoid it? The Talmud offers timeless wisdom for evading bad and living…

We turn to God during Elul for forgiveness. We apologize, regret, and earnestly await its reception. God is compassionate, merciful, loving, so…

We all want—or have wanted—to be like someone we admire. We hold them in high stature, donning the medallion of success and…

Is change good or bad? Teshuva sounds like great change, a process of reinventing self for the better. That sounds like good…

Imagination is the doorway to higher destiny. We envision what life could look like under different conditions: if we lived elsewhere, if…

American author Steven Pressfield knows what makes a compelling story, so he was taken aback when one producer repeatedly raised issues with…