Three Weeks and Tisha be-Av

Yaakov Jaffe examines the anti-Christian polemic in Maharam of Rottenberg's Kinnah about the burning of the Talmud.

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."

Zohar Atkins shares a few poetic excerpts in honor of Tishah be-Av

Yosef Lindell examines how Yehudah ha-Levi's kinnah about the bubbling blood of Zechariah modifies the story found in Talmudic sources and thus tackles the question of theodicy.

Ayelet Wenger offers a creative, intertextual reading of the story of Rabbi Akiva and the Wolf on the Temple Mount.

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.

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

Eileen Watts explores how Bernard Malamud's "The German Refugee" amplifies the themes of Tisha B'Av.

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

Erica Brown considers the little-discussed prohibition on planting during the Nine Days and what it teaches about the nature of mourning and joy.