Commentary

Natalie Zemon Davis, a Jewish historian known for shining a light on the lives of marginalized people in the early modern period, passed away in October. Ronnie Perelis commemorates Dr. Zemon Davis by reflecting on the experience of teaching her revolutionary work to his students at Stern College for Women.

Several reasons are given in our tradition about the reason for the fast on the Tenth of Tevet. The liturgy for the day takes a stand on what the true reasons are, but Yaakov Jaffe questions whether this stand is the right one.

Ari Elias-Bachrach examines the Israel Cheif Rabbi's recent decision not to bury the mother of a get-refuser.

In commemoration of the shloshim of Rabbi Simcha Krauss z"l, Dan Margulies offers a moving reflection of his teacher.

Why did the women bring musical instruments out of Egypt? In her first Lehrhaus article, musicologist Rebecca Cypess draws a fascinating historical analogy between biblical and African-American slavery to shed light on the Exodus in Jewish tradition.

Yaakov Taubes examines three hypothetical “What if?” books and what they can teach us about history, science, and halakhah.

Alex Ozar explores wartime law in the Rambam.

Jack Bieler continues the conversation about the need for and feasibility of a Modern Orthodox humash.

In honor of the yahrtzeit of Dolce, the wife of Rabbi Eleazar of Worms, Chaya Sima Koenigsberg explores Rabbi Eleazar's moving elegy for his wife and reflects upon Dolce's character as a model for Koenigsberg's own life and the lives of Jewish women today.

Alan Kadish offers a vision for how Orthodox Jews should think about "chosenness."