Climate Change and Prayers for Rain and Dew

By examining the prayers for rain and dew through the lens of meteorology and Rabbi Soloveitchik’s Lonely Man of Faith, Chaim Trachtman presents a unique religious model for thinking about climate change.

The Exodus, America’s Ever-Present Inspiration

Stuart Halpern explains how, when faced with uncertainty, danger, and personal and communal hardships, Americans have turned to the story of the Exodus for inspiration.

Making Seder Out of the Zoom Seder Controversy

Shlomo Zuckier surveys and analyzes the debate over Zoom Seders during coronavirus.

(Re)reading Shir ha-Shirim during Covid-19

Tzvi Sinensky argues compellingly for a new way to understand the relationship between Shir HaShirim and Pesach in times of quarantine.

The Hazon Ish Wasn’t Writing About Using Computers

Dan Margulies explains the Hazon Ish's discussion about the problem of using electricity on Shabbat, with implications for Zoom Sedarim.

The Passover Pandemic

In a piece that resonates today, Tzvi Sinensky examines what made the Jews' salvation from the plague of the firstborns so miraculous.

Hope

Ross Weissman offers a stirring poem on hope during the trying times of coronavirus.

Passover 2020

Harris Bor meditates on the world of Passover in his new poem for the Lehrhaus.

The Tragic Gap: Birkat Ha-Ilanot Amidst COVID-19

Shumel Hain discusses how we can bridge the "Tragic Gap" between the world envisioned in the blessing on budding fruit tress and our current reality of pandemic and tragedy

Contagious Disease, Moral Behavior, and Prayer: Bava Kama Today 

How did the Talmud look at plagues? Miriam Reisler offers a close reading of a key halakhic and narrative section of Bava Kama.