No Rest for the Weary? Ambiguity in Yehudah Halevi’s “Yom Shabbaton”
Yaakov Jaffe analyzes the multiple meanings of a medieval Jewish poem and popular Shabbat table song.
Thriller
William Kolbrener offers insight into the intellectual underpinnings of the Rav's 1932 interview recently re-published by The Lehrhaus.
Listening to the Jews of Silence in Soviet Popular Culture
Jewishness, antisemitism, popular culture and Russian television in the postwar era? Historian Maya Balakirsky Katz explains.
Written and Sealed (and Stamped) in the Book of Life
We will all be much more distant from each other this Rosh Hashanah. That’s why, argues Ranana Dine, it’s time to revive the tradition of sending physical greeting cards.
Rav Hayyim and the Love of Lernen
In 1927, Rabbi Boruch Ber Leibowitz wrote a poem, an ode to Rabbi Hayyim Soloveitchik of Brisk. Nati Helfgot provides the background and a translation.
The Making of a President for Yeshiva University
In a never-before-published memoir, Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein recalls the politics that surrounded Yeshiva University upon the death of President Bernard Revel and the search for his successor.
God, Torah, Self: Accepting the Yoke of Heaven in the Writings of Rav Shagar
Rav Shagar's postmodern insights on accepting the yoke of Heaven, for your pre-Shavuos reading pleasure!
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.
Hanukkah or Hanoch-ah: Illuminating the Origins and Trajectory of an Apocalyptic Holiday
In his latest for the Lehrhaus, Aton Holzer sheds light on the hidden roots of Hanukkah–exploring the political and theological meaning of the holiday from the Second Temple period through the Talmud.
The Modern Orthodox Vote and the Episcopalian Turn
Why do Orthodox Jews vote the way they do? Zev Eleff builds a case, using some unconventional data.