Commentary

As we reflect on ever-present evil by reading Parashat Zakhor this Shabbat amidst the shocking human tragedy of the war in Ukraine, Zach Truboff brings to light a derasha by Rav Moshe Avigdor Amiel written a century ago that speaks to this very moment.

In the summer of 2024, IDF police raided the Sde Teiman base as part of an investigation into reports of serious abuse of alleged terrorist detainees. The many turns of the resulting controversy divided Israeli society during wartime and brought global attention to Israel's military prisons. Ari Zivitofsky reflects on these events and argues that senior officials in the Israeli government and media failed to heed the dictates of the Jewish ethical tradition.

William Kolbrener offers insight into the intellectual underpinnings of the Rav's 1932 interview recently re-published by The Lehrhaus.

Hillel David Rapp proposes reinventing Day School philanthropy.

As the war in Israel approaches its third year, Zach Truboff calls upon Israeli society and its friends abroad to confront the spiritual and moral cost of the violence.

In his newest review, former Lehrhaus webmaster Steve Gotlib looks at Hasidim, Suffering and Renewal: The Prewar and Holocaust Legacy of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira and examines scholars’ differing views on whether the Aish Kodesh experienced a crisis of faith due to the Holocaust.

Chaim Saiman responds to Rabbi Judah Goldberg on why women's advanced Talmud classes haven't advanced.

Yakov Ellenbogen reviews Susan Weingarten's Haroset: A Taste of Jewish History.

Elli Fischer contributes to the Lehrhaus Symposium on the recent OU statement regarding female clergy.

Yosef Lindell reviews Rabbi Sacks's Humash translation and commentary, and compares it with other translations used in the scope of Modern Orthodoxy.