Holidays

Stephen Denker reconstructs Bert Katz's experience of Kristallnacht in Nentershausen.

Ezra Zuckerman Sivan examines how the yibbum triangle of Ruth, Tamar, and Lot's daughters teaches us how to rebuild our lives in a time of upheaval.

Tzvi Sinensky suggests that the Megillah itself confronts the question of Purim's legitimacy.

Ayelet Wenger offers a creative, intertextual reading of the story of Rabbi Akiva and the Wolf on the Temple Mount.

Elli Fischer on Rasbhi's passing, his legacy, and some other rabbinic legacies, as well.

Elli Fischer explores the ideological components of developments in Hanukkah traditions.

Poet Yehoshua November notices a defining characteristic of contemporary poetry—fixation on the ordinary. In light of Hasidic theology, November argues that appreciation for the holiness of the ordinary underlies Megillat Esther and the celebration of Purim.

Chana Chava Ford explains what Sukkot might teach us about real religious change.

Shimon Laufer examines how Rabbinic understanding of the holiday of Passover influenced the holiday of Purim, and how one of the oldest manuscripts of the Mishnah hints that the converse may be true as well.

Chaim Saiman comments on the nature of Simhat Torah.