Unorthodox? How Megillat Esther Justifies the Holiday of Purim
Tzvi Sinensky suggests that the Megillah itself confronts the question of Purim's legitimacy.
The Seder is Anything but Orderly
Why is the Haggadah such a disorganized text? Lehrhaus editor Yosef Lindell offers a strikingly novel approach to the dynamic nature of the Passover seder.
Jonah and the Varieties of Religious Motivation
David Bashevkin articulates a religious educator’s perspective on why people become religious
“For These Things I Weep”: Psychological Readings of Lamentations
In time for Tisha Be-Av, Marc Eichenbaum offers a meaningful new reading of Eikha using modern psychological concepts like grief, trauma, and narrative construction.
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.
The Fourth Chapter of Avot as an extended reflection on Epicurean Philosophy
In the spirit of Hanukkah, Yaakov Jaffe offers an intriguing thesis tying together a series of Mishnayot in the fourth chapter of Pirkei Avot: they are all responding to various aspects of Epicurean philosophy.
Laughter in the Face of Tragedy: The Enduring Resistance of Rabbi Akiva
Miriam Zami’s essay, runner-up to Hadar's annual Ateret Zvi Prize, uncovers the political and theological resistance of Rabbi Akiva’s laughter in the wake of the destruction of the Temple.
Rabbi Yehudah Ha-Levi’s Love Song on Jewish Self-Identification for the 7th day of Pesah
Yaakov Jaffe explores Yehuda Ha-Levi's Yom Le-Yabasha.
A Prayer for This Passover
How can we respond to a Seder during which it is prohibited to host guests? Yitzchak Etshalom and David Block each offer unique tefillot to be recited at our Seder table this year.
Aesopian Language in the Holocaust Writings of the Aish Kodesh of Piaseczno
The Hasidic work, Aish Kodesh, under the scholarly microscope, by Henry Abramson.
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