Culture

As the haftarah of Parashat Shelah approaches, Abe Mezrich presents a poem that traces an intriguing textual connection between Rahab and Jocheved.

Can food embody holiness? In this poem, DJ Grant uses challah as a metaphor to encapsulate the individual holiness of a person.

How successful is the new book, Reclaiming Dignity: A Guide to Tzniut for Men and Women, at setting forth a new Torah-based vision for modesty? Laurie Novick offers a careful review, carefully considering both the personal essays and halakhic/hashkafic analyses set forward in this important work.

How can one pray after sinning? In this poem, Dov Frank suggests seeking redemption in unexpected places.

As we approach Pesach, Bruce Black's latest poem vividly retells the splitting of the sea.

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."

As the annual infertility awareness Shabbat approaches, Shoshanah Haberman reflects on the biblical stories of our infertile foremothers, connecting them to her own experiences and to the lives of women today.

A poem addressed to survivors in the Chareidi community about the existential confusion endured by child sexual abuse.

Rebecca Cypess considers the life and work of the Italian Jewish Renaissance composer Salamone Rossi, his rabbinic supporter Leon Modena, and the controversies over 17th century polyphonic music in the synagogue.

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.