Reviews

Did the Founding Fathers study Kabbalah? Yisroel Ben-Porat reviews Brian Ogren’s new book Kabbalah and the Founding of America.

What was Alexander Hamilton's relationship to Judaism? In his review of a new book about Hamilton's Jewish world, Lehrhaus editor Yisroel Ben-Porat explores the arguments to be made for a "Jewish" founding father.

In this review of Professor Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin's new book on the ideology of exile in the thought of the Safed Kabbalists, Aron Wander unpacks an alternate proposal for Jewish national self-understanding that seeks to elevate, rather than negate, the Jewish people's exilic experiences.

Raphael Jospe and Zach Truboff write regarding recent articles that have driven conversation.

Gila Bieler-Hoch reviews Hilkhot Nashim, published by JOFA and Maggid Books.

Yakov Nagen's Soul of the Mishna contains a wealth of readings that combine academic, literary, and spiritual perspectives on the Mishnah, writes Richard Hidary. Read the full review of the book, now accessible to an English-speaking audience, in our latest at the Lehrhaus.

Zackary Sholem Berger Reviews Rabbi Jason Weiner's Jewish Guide to Practical Medical Decision Making.

It has been six years since Rav Aharon Lichtenstein passed away. In reviewing a 2018 collection of essays by Rav Lichtenstein’s students, Alan Jotkowitz reflects on what we have lost and the void that remains.

Did Rav Soloveitchik buy into Nietzsche’s critique of religion? Alex Ozar reviews Daniel Rynhold and Michael Harris’s book, which surprisingly argues that the answer to this question is yes.

Judah Kerbel Reviews Deborah E. Lipstadt's Antisemitism: Here and Now.