Puritan Purim
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.
Mi-Simhah Le-Yagon, Mi-Yom Tov Le-Eivel: The Changing Meaning of Sefirat Ha-Omer
Leead Staller explores the connection between Sefira practices and Hol Ha-moed.
R. Eliezer Berkovits’ Faith and Freedom Passover Haggadah
Ross Singer reviews the Faith and Freedom R. Eliezer Berkovits Haggadah, compiled by Reuven Mohl.
Why I Don’t Miss Shul on Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur as a mother, explored by The Lehrhaus's Leslie Ginsparg Klein
Where in my Apartment Should I Light my Hanukkah Lamps?
Dan Margulies explores various opinions on where to light a Hanukah Lamp in dorms and apartments.
Shavuot: The Wakeup Call
Batya Hefter explores a Hasidic understanding of “Sinai consciousness” and proposes a way to re-experience it on Shavuot.
The Torah of Rashbi and the Healing of the World
Eli Rubin presents a stirring passage from the Zohar, with the Lubavitcher Rebbe's commentary.
Miriam’s Song and the Persistence of Music in Dark Times
Why did the women bring musical instruments out of Egypt? In her first Lehrhaus article, musicologist Rebecca Cypess draws a fascinating historical analogy between biblical and African-American slavery to shed light on the Exodus in Jewish tradition.
Peshat and Beyond: The Emergence of A Reluctant Leader
Batya Hefter explores Moses' development as a leader
The Written Law
In this whimsical story, David Zvi Kalman takes an information theory perspective in tackling what it might have been like for Moses to receive the Law.
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