Holidays

Lehrhaus is proud to present Rabbi Henry Schneeberger's 1911 sermon in honor of Thanksgiving.

The worldview and thought process of Haman bear an uncanny resemblance to those of contemporary antisemitic movements. Drawing on the work of French psychoanalyst Jacque Lacan, Zach Truboff explores the fantasy at the heart of Haman's rage, takes note of its contemporary echoes, and proposes that Jews must beware of stumbling into our own version of this fantasy. This essay was written before the war with Iran. That Khamenei, who embodied the antisemitic fantasy as fully as any figure in our lifetime, was eliminated on the eve of Purim requires no commentary beyond what the Megillah itself provides.

Gilad Goldberg describes the bewildering experience of reporting for emergency reserve duty on October 7.

Thomas Freeman reflects on the meaning the shofar has taken on throughout his life.

As the year turns from Elul to Tishrei, enjoy Ben Corvo's collection of poems relevant to the High Holiday themes and liturgy.

  Aton M. Holzer The fifteenth of Av – among the most minor of minor festivals on the Jewish calendar – is marked in the diaspora...

Whose idea was Sinai? A midrash contends that Sinai was first conceived by Jethro. Ezra Zuckerman Sivan supports this Midrash from the Torah's text, and explains why Jethro was the appropriate vehicle for providing the rationale of Sinai.

Zev Eleff explains what Zionism has to do with Sukkot, at least in America.

Two new poems by Temima Weissmann address national calamities, both past and present.

Does halakhah have something to say about the subjectivity of aesthetic experience? Yosie Levine investigates the case of fashioning a replica Temple Menorah as adjudicated in the eighteenth century and what it can tell us about halachic thinking about art and aesthetics.