“Certainty Has Never Been Mine”: The Denominational Eclecticism of David Ellenson
Just in advance of the shloshim for David Ellenson, the former president of Hebrew Union College, Jonathan D. Sarna pays tribute to a man whose life, work, and friendships spanned the Jewish denominational divide.
An Alternative History of American Modern Orthodoxy
Leah Sarna contributes to the Lehrhaus Symposium on the recent OU statement regarding female clergy.
Four Days of Kristallnacht in Hessen
Stephen Denker reconstructs Bert Katz's experience of Kristallnacht in Nentershausen.
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.
Praying for Governments We Dislike?
Historian Jonathan Sarna places a recent decision by an Orthodox synagogue to modify the "prayer for the government" into sharp historical focus.
The Philosopher King and the Poet Messiah: Hellenic and Hebrew Republics Compared
In this essay, written in honor of Yom Yerushalayim, Bezalel Naor explores the differing visions for the ideal state held by Plato and the Rabbis, Maimonides and Rabbi Nahman of Breslov.
Letters To The Editor: A Further Response To Tzvi Goldstein On Centrist Orthodoxy And...
Tzvi Goldstein's recent piece on Centrist and Haredi Orthodoxy has generated many responses from our readers. Today we share a response from Chaim Goldberg, who vigorously argues that the greatest pillar for contemporary Haredi ideology is not Ramhal's Mesilat Yesharim but Rav Hayyim Volozhin's Nefesh Ha-Hayyim.
Theologically Speaking: God, Language, and the Maggid of Mezritsh
Is God revealed through our speech? In his review of Ariel Evan Mayse’s Speaking Infinities, Steven Gotlib explores this question in the thought of the Maggid of Mezritch.
Miriam’s Song and the Persistence of Music in Dark Times
Why did the women bring musical instruments out of Egypt? In her first Lehrhaus article, musicologist Rebecca Cypess draws a fascinating historical analogy between biblical and African-American slavery to shed light on the Exodus in Jewish tradition.
Holistic Repentance: Life as a Story
Natan Oliff explores the theological implications of teshuva in a world that is God’s prescripted story.
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