Scholarship

In a follow up to her recent piece about Joseph, Batya Hefter traces Judah's character development through the eyes of the Ishbitz-Radzyn masters.

In their latest for the Lehrhaus, Aryeh and Penina Dienstag study Talmudic narratives that balance the tension between sexual asceticism and pleasure through an overlooked literary motif: angels.

Natalie Zemon Davis, a Jewish historian known for shining a light on the lives of marginalized people in the early modern period, passed away in October. Ronnie Perelis commemorates Dr. Zemon Davis by reflecting on the experience of teaching her revolutionary work to his students at Stern College for Women.

Aryeh Klapper analyzes Rav Shaul Yisraeli’s classic work on civilian casualties in Halakhah.

David Fried reviews The Golden Path: Maimonides Across Eight Centuries, the companion volume to the Yeshiva University Museum’s exhibit on Maimonides.

In this second-place prize-winning essay for Hadar’s annual Ateret Zvi contest, Nehemia Polen approaches a vexing episode in the Torah through new lens: what if Moses and Aaron were denied entry to the Land of Israel not because of what they did when obtaining water from the rock but because of where they escaped to right before?

In her winning Ateret Zvi essay, Leah Sarna explores two simultaneously true stories about pregnancy: it is at once a beautiful, incredible miracle, and also a demanding journey, both physically and mentally, that often feels more like a catastrophe. Studying the Torah's accounts of pregnancy in Tazria and Rivkah's life, Sarna offers a moving analysis of what it means to hear, tell, and live these stories.

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

Mois Navon explores what makes Hanukkah so special.

Lazarre Simckes analyses Joseph’s dreams through the lens of trauma psychology.