Personal Reflections

Meshulam Gotlieb responds to Shaul Seidler-Feller with his own interpretation of Shas' 2019 political campaign.

Yisroel Ben-Porat offers historical, hashkafic, and personal reflections on what’s often called the “Judeo-Christian” tradition and whether a Torah u-Madda outlook can embrace the study of Christianity.

Aton Holzer reflects on Jerusalem and Zionism.

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.

Zach Truboff draws on personal experience in considering the place of Yizkor on Yom Tov.

Nechama Sternberg contemplates her relationship to her grandfather, and remarks on the person he was in life.

Noah Marlowe offers a personal reflection on the experience of simultaneously studying Hilkhot Aveilut and coping with loss from a clinical social work perspective. He explores the similarities and differences between the two lenses and how they could each benefit from being in conversation with each other.

This war diary, presented by Susan Weingarten, relates her experience in a kibbutz on the Gazan border on October 7th and the days following her return to Jerusalem after the Hamas massacre.

In commemoration of the shloshim of Rabbi Simcha Krauss z"l, Dan Margulies offers a moving reflection of his teacher.

Peninah Taragin Gershman I once made a Holocaust joke. It was not intentional, and it was not planned, but I said it, and it landed...