Authors Posts by Yisroel Ben-Porat

Yisroel Ben-Porat

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Yisroel Ben-Porat is a PhD candidate in early American history at CUNY Graduate Center. After studying in Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh for a year, he graduated summa cum laude from Yeshiva University in 2018 and advanced to doctoral candidacy at the Graduate Center in 2021. His dissertation focuses on how Puritans used the Hebrew Bible as a legal and political text in the seventeenth century Atlantic world. He has been published at Lehrhaus, TraditionOnline, and Jewish Journal. He can be reached by email at yisroelbp@gmail.com.

The Pregnant Sotah: A Case Study in the Ethics of Abortion

Yisroel Ben-Porat grapples with whether the case of the pregnant Sotah has implications for the debates surrounding abortion.

Adam’s Absence: Rereading the Primordial Sin

Yisroel Ben-Porat analyzes a Midrash offering non-misogynistic takes on the original sin.

The “Judeo-Christian” Tradition at Yeshiva

Yisroel Ben-Porat offers historical, hashkafic, and personal reflections on what’s often called the “Judeo-Christian” tradition and whether a Torah u-Madda outlook can embrace the study of Christianity.

Alexander Hamilton: The “Jewish” Founding Father

What was Alexander Hamilton's relationship to Judaism? In his review of a new book about Hamilton's Jewish world, Lehrhaus editor Yisroel Ben-Porat explores the arguments to be made for a "Jewish" founding father.

Rethinking Judaism in Early America

Did the Founding Fathers study Kabbalah? Yisroel Ben-Porat reviews Brian Ogren’s new book Kabbalah and the Founding of America.

Hebrew Bible or Old Testament? Evaluating the American Biblical Tradition

Did the Founding Fathers derive their biblical values from the Hebrew Bible, or just the Old Testament? Yisroel Ben-Porat reviews "Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land."