Jewish Thought and History

David Fried offers a novel reading of the Akeidah.

Yakov Nagen examines attitudes towards Islam in Jewish thought.

Ben Frogel reviews a new volume that introduces thirty-five different Jewish approaches to virtue ethics and attempts to link them into one continuous tradition.

In his first and last foray in this field, Zev Eleff tries his hand at some Modern Orthodox counter-history.  

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

Elli Fischer explores the ideological components of developments in Hanukkah traditions.

Batya Hefter traces Joseph's character development through the eyes of the Ishbitz-Radzyn masters.

In his first article for the Lehrhaus, Akiva Garner explores the phenomenon of vulnerability through both Jewish texts and modern psychology–and highlights its unrecognized significance in Jewish living and meaning.

In this timely piece, David Fried analyzes Maimonides' explanation of the ma'aseh merkavah in light of the Talmud's strictures on its teaching outlined in Hagigah. Fried's analysis reveals how Maimonides changed course from the Aristotelianism that he posited at other points in his career.

Yosef Lindell recounts the controversy surrounding different attempts at translating the Tishrei prayers.