Three Weeks and Tisha be-Av

Max Hollander analyzes the Talmudic narrative of Pardes and the four rabbis who entered it.

Yosef Lindell argues that the explanatory Kinot model, where fewer prayers are said but they are delved into in more depth, should be adopted for reciting Selihot.

R.A. Alpert argues that the differences between Hamas and the Zealots outweigh the similarities.

Yaakov Jaffe examines how the form in the Kinnah "Shavat Suru" gives us insight into its broader meaning.

With a novel reading of Josephus and Gittin, Shana Schwartz proposes that the tragedy of the second hurban and the mystery of subsequent Jewish survival may be understood by reference to the physiological knowledge available in classical antiquity.

David Polsky explores the similarities and differences between Hamas and the Jewish Zealots at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple.

Zvi Grumet suggests that when read in sequence, the kinot of R. Elazar Ha-Kalir—often seen as the ones most difficult to understand—offer a powerful theological narrative from despair to hope.

In his latest for the Lehrhaus, Dan Ornstein creatively imagines the story of the Talmudic sage Rabbi Yohanan through his teachings on the Book of Job. The short story is followed by a reflection on the methodology and power of "contemporary midrash."

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.

In advance of Tisha Be-Av, Tzvi Novick annotates and interprets the kinnah of a’adeh ad hug shamayim by the master poet R. Eleazar ha-Kalir, unlocking its complex acrostic to determine who its speaker is meant to be.