Jewish Thought and History

Shlomo Spivack discusses the anti-spirituality of his teacher, Rav Menachem Froman.

When we boil matters down to their essence, what is the underlying difference between a yeshivish and centrist Orthodox worldview? Tzvi Goldstein argues that it’s not Torah Umada, Zionism, or women’s roles; these are all symptomatic of a deeper debate about this world and the World to Come.

What motivated the first Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rav Herzog, to work tirelessly on the seemingly quixotic project of running the modern State of Israel on the basis of Halakhah? Reviewing Alexandar Kaye's new book on the subject, Rabbi Shalom Carmy explains.

Is the Mishnah racist? To answer the question, begs Elli Fischer, is to get a better understanding of both Judaism and Race

Shlomo Zuckier presents Rav Aharon Lichtenstein's own thoughts on academic Talmud.

Zachary Truboff considers the experience of prayer, and what two recent publications on Tefillah emerging from the Religious Zionist community contribute.

Rav Shagar's postmodern insights on accepting the yoke of Heaven, for your pre-Shavuos reading pleasure!

In his latest for Lehrhaus, Steven Gotlib considers Neo-Hasidism’s continued inroads into Orthodox thought and practice in his review of Contemporary Uses and Forms of Hasidut, the Orthodox Forum volume edited by Shlomo Zuckier.

In honor of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks’s 70th birthday, Ari Lamm explores his legacy as a biblical commentator.

The zogerke or firzogerin, once the vernacular translator in the women’s section of the synagogue, has faded into distant memory. Dalia Wolfson reimagines her for our times.