Review of Yehuda Landy: Purim and the Persian Empire
Mitchell First reviews Yehuda Landy's Purim and the Persian Empire.
The Dark Side of Torah u-Madda: Chaim Potok and Core-to-Core Cultural Confrontation
The debate about Torah u-Madda and pop culture continues. Noah Marlowe argues that Chaim Potok's literature offers a useful conceptual framework for, and embodiment of, a profound confrontation between Judaism and elite elements of general culture.
Rav Kook’s Space Odyssey
Bezalel Naor offers a stirring, other-worldly rendition of Rav Kook's poem "The Conversation of the Angels"
Queen Aster and Queen Esther
Ariel Clark Silver describes how Queen Esther’s story inspired women’s rights activist Louisa May Alcott’s short fable of an Aster who wisely ruled the kingdom of the flowers.
Goodbye, Philip: A Hesped
Dr. Ari Hoffman eulogizes Philip Roth.
Unhappy Families: Elhanan Nir’s Rak Shnenu
The Agnon scholar, Jeffrey Saks, sees some Agnonian work in modern Israeli literature.
Why You Need to Read Daniel Deronda
Shalva Muschel offers some perspective on George Elliot's leading Jews and the newest attempt to gain a fuller appreciation of Daniel Deronda.
Daniel Deronda and Fate and Destiny: Reflections on Zionism and Feminism
What do you get when you read George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda alongside Rav Soloveitchik’s Kol
Dodi Dofek? A cross between Zionism and feminism, argues Eileen Watts.
Wherefore Art Thou, Moses?
What does Shakespeare have to say about the Exodus, Moses, and the power of storytelling? Shaina Trapedo explores how the Bard's work can speak to us during this unprecedented Pesach season.
Rabbi Yohanan Reads the Book of Job
In his latest for the Lehrhaus, Dan Ornstein creatively imagines the story of the Talmudic sage Rabbi Yohanan through his teachings on the Book of Job. The short story is followed by a reflection on the methodology and power of "contemporary midrash."