Culture

This short story by Benjamin Guggenheim reimagines Moses after the sin of the Golden Calf: powerful yet powerless, dutiful yet embittered, so close to God yet so distant from His people.

Shumel Hain discusses how we can bridge the "Tragic Gap" between the world envisioned in the blessing on budding fruit tress and our current reality of pandemic and tragedy

With the 10th yarhtzeit of Rav Yehuda Amital, founding Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, upcoming this Sunday, we are honored to publish some poignant remembrances from his students. First up is Yehuda Mirsky of Brandeis University, who recalls his last conversation with Rav Amital.

Chaim Davis shares reflections based on his family’s (and his) close relationship with Rabbi Steinsaltz.

In advance of Shavuot, Stuart Halpern reviews Reading Ruth, a succinct but poignant new literary commentary on the Book of Ruth, by Leon Kass and his granddaughter Hannah Mandelbaum.

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.

Jennifer Caplan reviews Esther in America, a timely volume featuring essays by a number of Lehrhaus editors that addresses how the characters and themes of Megillat Esther have been integrated into American thought and culture over time.

What happens at the end of the old year? Hillel Broder explored this boundary in his new poem for the Lehrhaus.

In commemoration of Rav Amital's seventh Yahrtzeit, Shlomo Zuckier shares Rav Amital's teachings on Jewish continuity, in Derasha form.

Natan Oliff analyzes the deep philosophical messages in the music of Israeli singer Hanan Ben Ari.