The Agagites

For Parshat Zakhor, this short story by Shira Eliaser richly imagines the world of King Saul and the clandestine encounter that brought Haman’s Amalekite ancestors into the world.

Moana and the Call of Jewish Destiny

Sarah Rindner considers Moana's Disney revolution and its Jewish parallels.

The Tragic Gap: Birkat Ha-Ilanot Amidst COVID-19

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

A Temple in Our Days:  A Long-Overdue Conversation 

Our traditional longing for the rebuilding of the Beit Ha-Mikdash elides uncomfortable questions about the dramatic differences between sacrificial worship and our current models of serving God. Meir Kraus argues that the time has come to engage in this difficult conversation, especially in light of the growing religious-political movement to restore Jewish presence on the Temple Mount. Kraus also proposes an “alternative vision” for a future Temple era.

The State of the Conversation

Zev Eleff and Ari Lamm cap off the Lehrhaus Symposium on the OU statement.

The Grand Conversation: Bringing Jewish Ideas to the Literature Classroom

In this essay, Edelman and Steinberg argue for a literature curriculum that integrates Jewish thought.

That Which Is Beyond Your Gates

In this imaginative short story from David Zvi Kalman, as synagogue attendance shrinks, the buildings themselves begin to grow.

“I Am Building a City”: A Reflection for Agnon’s 50th Yahrtzeit

50 years after his passing, Agnon is as relevant as ever. Agnon expert and Lehrhaus Consulting Editor Jeffrey Saks explains.

Reclaiming Lag ba-Omer 

Rav Ronen Neuwirth suggests that the strictures of social distancing enable us to reduce this year's Lag BaOmer bonfires - which he sees as a very good thing.

When My Synagogue Closed

In this essay, Danny Groner reflects on the elements that make a synagogue a true house of worship.