Authors Posts by Yosef Lindell

Yosef Lindell

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Yosef Lindell is a lawyer, writer, and lecturer living in Silver Spring, MD, with his wife and two sons. He has an MA in Jewish history from Yeshiva University and a JD from NYU Law. His writing spans several genres, from science fiction to Jewish scholarship. In addition to writing for the Lehrhaus, he’s been published by the Atlantic, the Jewish Review of Books, Tablet, JTA, the Forward, Modern Judaism, Hakirah, Jewish Action, and other venues. He is a member of Lehrhaus’ consulting editorial board, and before that, he was an editor at Lehrhaus for more than four years, which included a period as its managing editor. Check out more of his writing at yoseflindell.wordpress.com.

Why Can’t Selihot Be More Like Kinot?

Yosef Lindell argues that the explanatory Kinot model, where fewer prayers are said but they are delved into in more depth, should be adopted for reciting Selihot.

Passover’s Rupture and Reconstruction

Yosef Lindell argues that the Haggadah focuses on the story of the Exodus rather than on the laws of the paschal sacrifice as a way of looking forward towards the future redemption.

Prayerful Poetry: A Translators’ Battle that Spanned the Atlantic

Yosef Lindell recounts the controversy surrounding different attempts at translating the Tishrei prayers.

Was the Sotah Meant to be Innocent?

For Parshat Naso, Lehrhaus editor Yosef Lindell compares three twentieth-century rereadings of the Sotah ritual that make the passage more palatable to modern audiences.

Shomron Kol Titein: Let the Silent Sisters Speak and be Consoled

Yosef Lindell examines why Shomron Kol Titein is a fitting conclusion to the daytime kinnot on Tisha Be-Av.

The Seder is Anything but Orderly

Why is the Haggadah such a disorganized text? Lehrhaus editor Yosef Lindell offers a strikingly novel approach to the dynamic nature of the Passover seder.

A New Coffee-Table Humash is a Gateway to Academic Biblical Scholarship

As we begin to read Sefer Shemot, Yosef Lindell explores Koren Publishers' new series, The Tanakh of the Land of Israel, the first volume to use Rabbi Sacks’ Humash translation.

Confronting God on Tishah Be-Av in Yehudah ha-Levi’s Yom Akhpi Hikhbadti

Yosef Lindell examines how Yehudah ha-Levi's kinnah about the bubbling blood of Zechariah modifies the story found in Talmudic sources and thus tackles the question of theodicy.

The Loneliest Communal Prayer

As the tumultuous events of 2020 continue into the heady days of summer, the Lehrhaus is looking back, with short reflections on the moments we have been thinking about. Our first reflection is from new Lehrhaus editor Yosef Lindell, thinking about his lonely return to communal prayer.

Think Passover Guides are Getting Stricter? Think Again

Yosef Lindell offers a brief history of Pesah guides.