Commentary

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.

Rami Reiner breaks new ground, analyzing Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein's view of academic Jewish studies.

  Yael Jaffe As you walk into the room, you hear voices arguing back and forth. You can’t make out the sound of any particular conversation...

As the Covid-19 pandemic looks like it might be subsiding, Ezra Schwartz, a Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University, incisively examines competing trends toward decentralization of synagogue life and centralization of halakhic decision-making that are reshaping the Modern Orthodox world.

Shlomo Zuckier reviews Headlines, the most famous Jewish Podcast you've never heard of.

Jeremy Brown comments on the history and necessity of vaccination in the Jewish community.

Dr. Eddie Reichman, an ER doctor on the front lines of fighting Coronavirus, and an expert in the history of halakhah and medicine, shares a unique perspective on history of combatting plagues in the Jewish tradition.

Zev Eleff on a uniquely American Jewish "righteous commodity" Gedolim Cards

David J. Landes z"l, former chairman of the Etzion Foundation at Yeshivat Har Etzion, developed a very close relationship with Rav Aharon Lichtenstein zt"l. In honor of Rav Lichtenstein's 6th yahrtzeit, Dr. Landes' family has generously offered to publish his penetrating analysis of Rav Lichtenstein's 1957 Harvard dissertation, published in 1962 under the title Henry More: The Rational Theology of a Cambridge Platonist.

Joshua Berman, a leading Tanakh scholar, has written a compelling book that addresses head-on many of the challenges posed by biblical criticism. Michael Harris explains.