Jewish Thought and History

What was Alexander Hamilton's relationship to Judaism? In his review of a new book about Hamilton's Jewish world, Lehrhaus editor Yisroel Ben-Porat explores the arguments to be made for a "Jewish" founding father.

Elinatan Kupferberg argues that the boundaries between Torah and Madda have blurred and evolved throughout Jewish intellectual history. This erudite analysis upends our assumptions about Torah u-Madda and breathtakingly reimagines its past, present, and future.

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

Chaim Saiman on halakhic change and the observance of Tisha Be-Av.

Yaakov Taubes explores the background to Maimonides’s explanation for how the Mishnah is ordered.

Zev Eleff on an endangered species, the so-called Non-Observant Orthodox Jew.

Steven Gotlib reviews the magnum opus of legendary Jewish thinker Yitz Greenberg, considering ways in which Greenberg’s newest synthesis of his ideas bring him back into conversation with the Modern Orthodox community.

William Gewirtz continues to offer his thoughts on the meaning of bein ha-shemashot.

Who was Monsieur Shoshani, the mysterious and brilliant teacher of some of the greatest 20th century Jewish thinkers? A new look into recently published notebooks of this important figure may help solve the puzzle. David Lang, Yoel Finkelman, and Admiel Kosman offer a commentary and analysis of one such enigmatic passage.

Gil Perl draws from Rav Shagar to argue that "Postmodern Orthodoxy turns its gaze inward toward the conflicts raging within the individual as he or she seeks out meaning and strives for relevance.