Scholarship

At the height of the cholera epidemic in 1831, Hatam Sofer delivered a timely sermon on a perplexing midrash to Parshat Ki Tavo. The take-home, suggests Elli Fischer, is all-too familiar in the COVID era.

Yakov Nagen's Soul of the Mishna contains a wealth of readings that combine academic, literary, and spiritual perspectives on the Mishnah, writes Richard Hidary. Read the full review of the book, now accessible to an English-speaking audience, in our latest at the Lehrhaus.

Alex Ozar explores the significance of Torah study in the womb.

Alan Jotkowitz reviews the latest volume of Dr. Haym Soloveitchik’s collected essays, bringing us back to the world of medieval Ashkenaz.

In this essay, Weinberg reflects on the symbolic significance of tefillin and its message for our Jewish future.

Elana Stein Hain explores how the frameworks offered by the humanities can mesh with our Torah-driven lives.

Gila Bieler-Hoch reviews Hilkhot Nashim, published by JOFA and Maggid Books.

Bezalel Naor responds to Bezalel Safran's Straussian reading of the Rambam.

Yaakov Beasley looks at Hayyim Angel's scholarship and evaluates it as an exemplar of Modern Orthodox Bible study.

In a rare piece of Lehrhaus Purim Torah, Mark Glass explores—with surprising halakhic rigor—whether the Pokémon named Bulbasaur’s use of a Solar Beam attack would constitute cooking on Shabbat.