Commentary

What is President Trump’s legacy for Orthodox Jews? Shalom Carmy, taking stock of the past four years, considers religious liberty, Israel policy, and the bitter polarization that dominates American politics

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.

Steven Gotlib reviews Roberta Rosenthal Kwall’s book Remix Judaism, which has an important message about navigating Jewish practice in the modern world for non-Orthodox and Orthodox Jews alike.

In this latest piece addressing Modern Orthodox education, Anthony Knopf lays out the case for formal moral education in our schools that is rooted in Jewish thought and guided by the latest research in the field.

Jennifer Caplan reviews Esther in America, a timely volume featuring essays by a number of Lehrhaus editors that addresses how the characters and themes of Megillat Esther have been integrated into American thought and culture over time.

The creative responses of Jewish Day Schools to the pandemic demonstrate that the time has come to think out of the box and reimagine high school education. Hillel Rapp, Director of Education at Bnei Akiva Schools of Toronto, outlines a provocative, comprehensive vision for reimagining high schools in the 21st century.

There was a time when many day schools featured home ec classes, but those days are behind us. Lindsey Bodner makes the case for reintroducing an updated version of this course in our curricula.

In this review of a new book by Aryeh Solomon, Ilan Fuchs explores how for the Lubavitcher Rebbe, teaching and learning are a sacred calling leading toward spiritual growth.

Steven Gotlib explores similarities between Rabbis Dov Singer and Arthur Green in their models of prayer and how this model can make prayer meaningful even when experiencing doubts in one’s faith.

On the sheloshim of his beloved rabbi, Matt Lubin provides a poignant and heartfelt tribute to Rav Yehuda Kelemer z"tl, legendary leader of the Young Israel of West Hempstead.