The Accidental Iniquity of Amalek

In a fascinating analysis, Gavriel Lakser places the Megillah in the context of the overarching struggle between the Jewish people and Amalek.

The Inverted Halakhah of Simhat Torah

Chaim Saiman comments on the nature of Simhat Torah.

Masculinity and the Hanukkah Hero: Toward a New Interpretation of Biblical Gevurah

The Maccabees were renowned as gibborim. But what exactly is gevurah, and what does it mean for dicussions about manhood and Zionism? Tzvi Sinensky uses Hanukkah as a starting point for this contemporary conversation.

Pesah and Shavuot, Or: Emancipation and Freedom

Jerome Marcus explores understandings of freedom within halakhah and how they relate to Pesah and Shavuot

“For These Things I Weep”: Psychological Readings of Lamentations

In time for Tisha Be-Av, Marc Eichenbaum offers a meaningful new reading of Eikha using modern psychological concepts like grief, trauma, and narrative construction.

Hanukkah: A Poem by Avrom Liessen

In his Yiddish poem "Hanukkah" (1932), Avrom Liessen poignantly recalled his early experience of the holiday. Dov Greenwood's vivid translation transports us into that wondrous world.

Making Seder Out of the Zoom Seder Controversy

Shlomo Zuckier surveys and analyzes the debate over Zoom Seders during coronavirus.

Rabbi Lamm, Sukkot, and the Spiritual Perils of Materialism

Can we solve the growing problem of materialism in the Orthodox community? Tzvi Sinensky explains how Rabbi Norman Lamm’s Sukkot sermons shine some light on the matter

Where is the Justice in the Tenth Plague?

Ezra Sivan asks: Where is the justice in the tenth plague?

The Customs of Sefirah aren’t about Mourning. They are about Quarantine.

Ben Greenfield looks at the similarity between Sefirah observances and quarantine, and suggests a new way to understand the connection.