Do You Believe In Miracles?

Zach Truboff looks at the miracle of the Hanukkah oil through the lens of Franz Rosenzweig and emphasizes the importance of the belief in miracles for a meaningful religiosity.

Outside Help in the Teshuvah Process

With Hoshanah Rabbah today and the theme of repentance in mind, Jack Cohen explores the role that outsiders play in one's teshuva process through an enigmatic midrash instructing one to return a person to themselves.

Fellowship from Plague: Lessons from Passover

Ezra Sivan follows up last year's piece about how the Exodus leveled social boundaries with an article about what the Pesah story teaches us about social distancing today.

Climate Change and Prayers for Rain and Dew

By examining the prayers for rain and dew through the lens of meteorology and Rabbi Soloveitchik’s Lonely Man of Faith, Chaim Trachtman presents a unique religious model for thinking about climate change.

The Shofar as a Mekonenet, a Singer of Laments

  Rebecca Cypess As the only musical instrument used in modern Jewish liturgy, the shofar possesses a humble form. Halakhah forbids the modification of the shofar’s...

The Yom Kippur War and Yeshivat Har Etzion: Letters from a Talmid

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, published here are excerpts from letters of an American student studying in Israel in 1973. These letters, written during and immediately after the war, shed light on Yeshivat Har Etzion in its formative years and the lasting impact of the Yom Kippur War.

Ve-Atah Banim Shiru La-Melekh – People Over Angels on Shavuot

What can a medieval piyut (and famous modern chassidic tune) teach us about people's superiority over angels? Yitzchak Szyf explores how our Shavuot liturgy proclaims man's partnership with God in Torah.

Peshat and Beyond: The Emergence of A Reluctant Leader

Batya Hefter explores Moses' development as a leader

Erev Rosh Hashana 

What happens at the end of the old year? Hillel Broder explored this boundary in his new poem for the Lehrhaus.

Why You Need to Read Daniel Deronda

Shalva Muschel offers some perspective on George Elliot's leading Jews and the newest attempt to gain a fuller appreciation of Daniel Deronda.