Culture

  Yael Unterman   I dedicate this essay to my friend Dr. Tsippi Kauffman z”l, who passed away in the course of its writing. A wonderful educator,...

In the next finalist installment from our short story competition, Lior Zoë Perets’ period fiction explores the rabbinic instruction to “rise up and strike first.”

Alia Saphier examines the concept of cultural genocide, how it relates to the Holocaust, and how both Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and Diana Blumenfeld fought for the longevity of Jewish music.

Shlomo Riskin remembers how Yeshiva University's late Professor Louis Feldman helped him make the greatest decision of his life.

Jonah Rocheeld reflects on his experiences of worrying he did not belong in Torah learning, and the experience that showed him he belonged.

David Lehman hits a home run with this fun, smart poem that is perfect for the summer

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

In this poetic tale from Marina Zilbergerts's recent poetry book You Were Adam (Wipf and Stock), a learned and passionate woman struggles with her yetser hara, nicknamed "Wicked." The yetser is imagined as a fantastic character who accompanies her through Jewish Toronto's banal suburbia. "Wicked '' is a sympathetic and tragic apikores who knows how to get her where it hurts, but he also speaks the truth. He is a careful social observer present with her at all times. From going on weekly shopping trips, being in shul, to more intimate moments, this demonic character becomes her unlikely friend. In an ironic twist, the lessons taught to her by her yetser help her embark on the path of repentance.

As the tumultuous events of 2020 continue into the heady days of summer, the Lehrhaus is looking back, with short reflections on the moments we have been thinking about. Our first reflection is from new Lehrhaus editor Yosef Lindell, thinking about his lonely return to communal prayer.

In this collection of poems, Owen Lewis explores the human desire for connection with the divine while navigating an early world.