Holidays

Max Hollander compares the two parables most often used to define Shemini Atzeret in the traditional commentators.

Ranana Dine explores the depictions of suffering in haggadot.

In this essay, Michael Kurin analyzes the book of Esther in the context of the Second Temple and the diaspora.

Akiva Mattenson writes on the relationship between God and Judgement.

The biblical account of the holiday we refer to as Shavuot bears no relationship at all to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The emergence of the association between this harvest festival and the Sinai covenant has therefore occupied both traditional and academic thinkers for centuries. Tzvika Aviv argues for a previously unexplored approach to the question, one which bridges the mystical insights of the Zohar with current scientific knowledge regarding wheat genetics.

A new poem and introductory essay by Ben Corvo, in memory of his father.

Jennifer Caplan reviews Esther in America, a timely volume featuring essays by a number of Lehrhaus editors that addresses how the characters and themes of Megillat Esther have been integrated into American thought and culture over time.

As we approach Pesach, Bruce Black's latest poem vividly retells the splitting of the sea.

Shimon Lerner uncovers a surprising but profound message that goes to the very heart of the Purim story.

Natan Oliff explores the theological implications of teshuva in a world that is God’s prescripted story.