Commentary

Last year at this time, when the pandemic brought tremendous upheaval to Jewish communal institutions the mikveh remained open for use. In this expansive piece, Mijal Bitton and Elana Stein Hain examine the communal response to mikveh during COVID-19, explore the experiences of women who chose to use--or not use--the mikveh during this time, and offer constructive recommendations for the future.

Did elite rabbinic figures jumpstart Bais Yaakov, or was it a grassroots women's movement? Leslie Ginsparg Klein explains.

In light of the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday, Michael Broyde considers what American abortion law halakhah might prefer.

How will digital technology transform Torah study in the coming years? Two of the brilliant minds working at the cutting edge of this field, Moshe Koppel and Avi Shmidman, both professors at Bar-Ilan University, offer a window into the Torah tools of the future.

James Wolfe outlines the vision for a new website meant to democratize day school information.

The new book Reclaiming Dignity is taking the Anglo Jewish world by storm. Why? Emmanuel Bloch, who wrote his dissertation on the subject of tzeniut, argues that the work capitalizes on and extends a new, revolutionary halakhic and conceptual framework for tzeniut that has emerged only in recent years - one that offers a lens to the “soul of contemporary Jewish Orthodoxy.”

Jeffrey Fox examines whether watching football is problematic from a Torah point of view.

David Stein comments on the state of Modern Orthodox education.

Tzvi Sinensky explores the Biblical origins of Tu be-Av.

The notion of Torah u-Madda—that Torah and secular studies can enrich each other—has been a byword in the Modern Orthodox community for decades. Yet some have claimed it is in decline. Over the course of the next few weeks, Lehrhaus is proud to present a symposium grappling with Torah u-Madda: how we got here, the challenges that have arisen, and how its meaning continues to evolve over time.