Tzvi’s Substack

 https://tgb613.substack.com/t/nineteen-letters

How I Met Rav Hirsch

And why you may want to meet him as well.

Jul 16 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 19: The Essays

Benjamin gets a mazel tov, and we do too (plus a controversial take)

Jul 13, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 18, Part 2: Torah Done Right

Returning to Tanach and the Talmud -- and optimism regarding the future of Torah-true Judaism

Jul 6, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 18, Part 1: A History of Torah Study Gone Wrong

Exploring some of the "wrong turns" in the study of Torah so far

Jun 22, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 17: Reform

Rav Hirsch offers a nuanced, partially positive take on the impulse towards reform, and advocates for instead reforming Jews

Jun 15, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 16: Emancipation

Integration into non-Jewish society

Jun 8, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 15: Reply

Returning to Benjamin's questions from Letter One

Jun 1, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 14: Avodah

The last of the 6 categories of mitzvos

May 25, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 13: Edos

Category 5 — Symbolic mitzvos

May 18, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 12: Mitzvos

Category four of six: commandments of love.

May 11, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 11: Toros, Mishpatim, Chukim

Three of Rav Hirsch's six categories of mitzvos

May 4, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 10: Classification of the Mitzvos

Beginning of Part 2 — Horeb. Reasons for mitzvos, pet peeves, and Rav Hirsch's incredible scholarship as a 28-year-old

Apr 27, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 9: Exile

The purpose of exile; did Rav Hirsch believe that exile was an ideal?!

Apr 6, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 8: The Founding of the Jewish People

From Avraham to Egypt to Israel, all in just one letter

Mar 30, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 7: Yisrael Among the Nations

The role of the Jewish People: What are we here for?

Mar 22, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 6: History

From Flood to Tower and Beyond

Mar 9, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 5: Education

From Adam to Noach

Feb 23, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 4: Humanity

What do we add to the Circle of Life?

Feb 16, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 3: The World

Naftali starts at the beginning of the world, as we know it

Feb 9, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter 2: Naftali's Response

Notice that I didn't say "answers." And how does the Twilight Zone fit in?

Feb 2, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Letter One: The Questions

All the questions you've wanted to ask

Jan 26, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein

Reading The Nineteen Letters

Come along for the journey

Jan 20, 2025 • Tzvi Goldstein