Jewish Thought and History

Merri Ukraincik contemplates G-d's role in our lives.

Gil Perl argues that Modern Orthodox currently lacks a “Hedgehog Concept,” namely something at their core that they passionately believe they do better than anyone else in the world. He argues that Or Goyim, as articulated by 19th century luminaries like Netziv and Hirsch, is the Hedgehog concept that can engage Modern Orthodox Youth in a postmodern world.

For Parshat Naso, Lehrhaus editor Yosef Lindell compares three twentieth-century rereadings of the Sotah ritual that make the passage more palatable to modern audiences.

In part one of this series, Ariel Mayse provides an introduction to the history of neo-hasidism, through the voices of Hillel Zeitlin and Martin Buber.

Natan Oliff looks at the various ways Jewish thinkers have found meaning in determinism.

Malka Simkovich on the Hasmonean victories and the truth behind the Hanukkah miracle.

Through an analysis of Hanukkah ads, Yael Buechler explains how Yiddish newspapers used the Old Country language to acculturate Jews to the New Country.

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

Philo of Alexandria may rightly be called the first systematic Jewish philosopher, yet for many centuries his work was totally unknown to Jewish audiences. Dovid Cambpell argues for his continued relevance to modern Judaism.

Yisrael Kashkin and Jeffrey Saks provide a timeline for the Rav's American arrival.