Holidays

Eliav Grossman contextualizes the femininity emerging from some of Proverbs' best known passages

Yaakov Jaffe explores Yehuda Ha-Levi's Yom Le-Yabasha.

Shira Hecht-Koller and Aaron Koller explore the worship of the Kohen Gadol through the voice of Ishay Ribo.

Ezra Sivan presents a new analysis of Shabbat and how it throws light on so much more in the Torah.

How did Esther shape the way Puritans saw the ideal role of the contemporary woman? Cotton Mather, a major player in the Salem Witch Trials, had much to say in his Ornaments for the Daughters of Zion. Stuart Halpern of Yeshiva University explains, wishing us all a Puritan Purim.

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.

As we approach the Seder, Joe Wolfson invites us to consider how children’s questions help adults appreciate the true meaning of Pesach.

Harris Bor meditates on the world of Passover in his new poem for the Lehrhaus.

In a fascinating analysis, Gavriel Lakser places the Megillah in the context of the overarching struggle between the Jewish people and Amalek.

Rabbi Yaakov Jaffe comments on the poetry, context, and tension of Yehuda Ha-Levi's "Tziyon Halo Tishali" Kinnah.