Holidays

Shimon Lerner uncovers a surprising but profound message that goes to the very heart of the Purim story.

Ezra Sivan asks what light the narratives of Shabbat and the scouts shed on some critical social questions.

Countless explanations have been offered to explain the debate between Beit Hillel and Beit Shamai as to whether we light the Hanukkah candles in ascending or descending order. Yet remarkably, Hannah Abrams manages to offer a strikingly novel reading of this debate. Her analysis is well worth the read.

Ross Singer reviews the Faith and Freedom R. Eliezer Berkovits Haggadah, compiled by Reuven Mohl.

After six months suspended between quarantine, isolation, and uncertainty, it’s natural to want to run away from home, especially as Yom Kippur looms and we realize it’s time for a change. But, as Matthew Nitzanim explains, this understandable reaction would miss the point of Teshuvah: everything we need to work on is right here, wherever it is we find ourselves.

How did Esther shape the way Puritans saw the ideal role of the contemporary woman? Cotton Mather, a major player in the Salem Witch Trials, had much to say in his Ornaments for the Daughters of Zion. Stuart Halpern of Yeshiva University explains, wishing us all a Puritan Purim.

Leead Staller explores the connection between Sefira practices and Hol Ha-moed.

Dan Margulies explores various opinions on where to light a Hanukah Lamp in dorms and apartments.

Pressed for time, people often skip reciting the korbanot section of the morning prayers. With the High Holidays approaching, Judah Kerbel makes the case that the korbanot are far more central and halakhically significant to our prayers than we often realize.

Yom Kippur as a mother, explored by The Lehrhaus's Leslie Ginsparg Klein