Do You Believe In Miracles?

Zach Truboff looks at the miracle of the Hanukkah oil through the lens of Franz Rosenzweig and emphasizes the importance of the belief in miracles for a meaningful religiosity.

Bati Le-Gani and the Triumph of Humanity

In honor of Yud Shevat, The Lehrhaus presents an excerpt from Eli Rubin’s forthcoming book Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity: An Existential History of Chabad Hasidism. Rubin explores the theological meaning of an influential series of discourses by the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, R. Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn.

Daniel Deronda: George Eliot’s Book of Exodus 

In this essay, Eileen Watts draws parallels between Daniel Deronda and the book of Exodus

On the Educational Mission of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

Seth Farber explores the Rav's 1932 in local Boston historical context.

Traditional Revolutionaries

Ilan Fuchs reviews Naomi Seidman’s book Sarah Schenirer and the Bais Yaakov Movement.

Aspects of My Father’s Philosophy of Jewish History

This essay by Aaron Zeitlin—originally published in Yiddish in 1967 and translated here into English by Daniel Kraft—explores Aaron’s father Hillel Zeitlin’s approach to anti-semitism by way of the Book of Jonah.

Trajectories of Tradition: King David on Skin Lesions and Tent Impurities

AJ Berkovitz traces the reception history of a Midrash Tehillim that seems to equate the reading of Psalms with Torah study, offering a fascinating case study of how tradition evolves.

Resurrecting Moses Mendelssohn

Tzvi Sinensky As chronicled in Robert Putnam’s 2000 classic book, Bowling Alone, loneliness is one of the vexing challenges of modern life. The advent of the...

Man vs. Prophecy? A New Look at the Classic Discussion of Predetermination in the...

The Mei Ha-Shiloah’s statements on predetermination pose a theological challenge to foundational Jewish doctrines. In an analysis weaving together several Torah narratives and Izhbitzer commentaries, Reuven Boshnack proposes an empowering interpretation of the Mei Ha-Shiloah.

Letters to the Editor: Raphael Jospe and Zach Truboff

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