Contemporary

This article was written and accepted for publication in the summer of 5783/2023 and scheduled to appear after the holidays. Because of the outbreak of Israel’s “Iron Swords” war with Ḥamas following the murderous attack on Israel on Shabbat/Simḥat Torah (7 October, 2023), we agreed that publication needed to be postponed. Now, five months into the war with no end in sight, we are nevertheless witness to renewed political tensions, public demonstrations, disagreements and paralysis in appointing judges and the President of the Supreme Court, together with resumption of talk of the “judicial reform.” Despite the continuing tragedy of the war in the south and warfare in the north, a review of how our sources treat the separation of powers and majority rule may help us avoid repeating some of the mistakes of the pre-war political and ideological divisions in Israel and contribute to a more reasoned consideration of the issues.

Tzvi Goldstein responds to letters from Chaim Goldberg and Yaakov Resnik on his piece on the differences between Centrist and Haredi Orthodoxy, unpacking the view of Rav Hayyim Volozhin’s Nefesh Ha-Hayyim.

Raphael Jospe and Zach Truboff write regarding recent articles that have driven conversation.

Ari Lamm on the Bat Kol in rabbinic literature and its implications for Orthodox discourse

Elli Fischer contributes to the Lehrhaus Symposium on the recent OU statement regarding female clergy.

As 2022 comes to a close, the Lehrhaus team is proud to feature some highlights from our contributions this past year. Yet again, we have published at least one hundred original pieces across a wide variety of genres.

A review of Yehoshua November’s The Concealment of Endless Light.

Chaim Trachtman offers some concluding thoughts on Judaism and racisim, and responds to Elli Fischer.

Zach Truboff draws upon the thought of Rav Kook and Rav Shagar to explore the themes of light and darkness and their application to Hanukkah.

William Kolbrener calls for an end to Rav-polemicizing so that all interested parties might finally take his legacy and teachings at full-depth.