Passover 2020
Harris Bor meditates on the world of Passover in his new poem for the Lehrhaus.
Yatziv Pitgam: Poetry as Talmud Commentary
How should we understand Yatziv Pitgam, the enigmatic poem recited in the Haftarah for the second day of Shavuot? Tzvi Novick’s close reading reveals it to be a paean to the Torah and those who study it.
Searching for the Vatican’s Menorah
Tzvi Sinensky on the lost Menorah, the Vatican theory, and the ideology of the search and mythology.
Steely Dan and Rosh Hashanah
Ari Lamm offers a retrospective on the music of Steely Dan and its significance for Rosh Hashanah.
Queen Aster and Queen Esther
Ariel Clark Silver describes how Queen Esther’s story inspired women’s rights activist Louisa May Alcott’s short fable of an Aster who wisely ruled the kingdom of the flowers.
Wisdom and Human Pretention: The Riddle of Shlomo and its Resolution
Special for Sukkot, we are honored to publish this piece by Rav Nahum Rabinovitch zz"l, appearing first the first time in print. Special thanks to Elli Fischer for translating and Koren for permission to publish.
Reclaiming the Akeidah from Kierkegaard
David Fried offers a novel reading of the Akeidah.
Aesopian Language in the Holocaust Writings of the Aish Kodesh of Piaseczno
The Hasidic work, Aish Kodesh, under the scholarly microscope, by Henry Abramson.
Bulbasaur & Bishul: An Adar-Fueled, Unnecessarily In-Depth Analysis of a Nonsensical Halakhic Question
In a rare piece of Lehrhaus Purim Torah, Mark Glass explores—with surprising halakhic rigor—whether the Pokémon named Bulbasaur’s use of a Solar Beam attack would constitute cooking on Shabbat.
In Six Barleys were Wrapped an Enduring Legacy
Ezra Zuckerman Sivan examines the significance of the six barleys that Boaz gives Ruth in light of the story of Rachel, Leah, and the duda'im.
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