Personal Reflections

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.

Sarah Rindner contemplates whether Torah u-Madda as it’s sometimes interpreted can engender unreflective allegiance to trends in contemporary society that might harm our religious communities.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, published here are excerpts from letters of an American student studying in Israel in 1973. These letters, written during and immediately after the war, shed light on Yeshivat Har Etzion in its formative years and the lasting impact of the Yom Kippur War.

In this thoughtful essay, Cypess reflects on the melody that is carrying Israel in the wake of October 7th.

Zev Eleff offers a rejoinder and some reflections on "What if Rav Aharon Had Stayed?"

Can we learn Torah from Star Wars, superheroes, or the hit Netflix show ‘The Crown’? Olivia Friedman, a teacher at Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago, says yes, arguing that bringing pop culture into the Judaic studies classroom in a meaningful way not only makes learning more fun, but models the type of integration that Modern Orthodoxy stands for.

In a moving reflection, Mali Moskowitz explores her life as a rebbetzin, lawyer, and wife, and asks: can there be a rebbetzin without a rabbi?

Ayelet Wenger weaves together the personal, historical and exegetical in advance of reading Sefer Shemot.

Reading R. Eliezer b. Hyrcanus and Shammai through an autistic lens, Liz Shayne explores how uncompromising, righteous anger can find a place in the beit midrash.

Media culture scholar, Matt Sienkiewicz, reflects on the Maccabeats phenomenon and the group's first viral smash.