Commentary

So many of the most exciting developments in Jewish thought, explains Ariel Rackovsky, are occurring in Israel. Are American Jews sufficiently aware of them?

Risa Miller The latest addition to the burgeoning subgenre of ‘off-the-derekh’ memoirs is Tova Mirvis’s The Book of Separation. Mirvis’s three published novels, which oftentimes...

Michael (Avi) Helfand on a recent court case with implications for American Jews as members of both a religious and a minority community.

What is the appropriate way to address a rabbi? Moshe Kurtz offers a thoughtful perspective on lay usage of rabbinic titles.

This article was written and accepted for publication in the summer of 5783/2023 and scheduled to appear after the holidays. Because of the outbreak of Israel’s “Iron Swords” war with Ḥamas following the murderous attack on Israel on Shabbat/Simḥat Torah (7 October, 2023), we agreed that publication needed to be postponed. Now, five months into the war with no end in sight, we are nevertheless witness to renewed political tensions, public demonstrations, disagreements and paralysis in appointing judges and the President of the Supreme Court, together with resumption of talk of the “judicial reform.” Despite the continuing tragedy of the war in the south and warfare in the north, a review of how our sources treat the separation of powers and majority rule may help us avoid repeating some of the mistakes of the pre-war political and ideological divisions in Israel and contribute to a more reasoned consideration of the issues.

Udi Dvorkin offers a plea to take Rav Shagar at his full value, which means reading him in the original Hebrew.

Malka Simkovich on the Hasmonean victories and the truth behind the Hanukkah miracle.

Eliana Yashgur argues that grading Judaic subjects in day schools harms the larger goals of Jewish education, and offers some alternative practices.

As 2022 comes to a close, the Lehrhaus team is proud to feature some highlights from our contributions this past year. Yet again, we have published at least one hundred original pieces across a wide variety of genres.

Rav Dov Zinger discusses his innovative perspective on education, and why its important to listen to what happens beyond the back and forth of the classroom.