The Customs of Sefirah aren’t about Mourning. They are about Quarantine.
Ben Greenfield looks at the similarity between Sefirah observances and quarantine, and suggests a new way to understand the connection.
Between Angels and (Wo)Men: The Talmudic Approach to Sexuality
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.
Laughter in the Face of Tragedy: The Enduring Resistance of Rabbi Akiva
Miriam Zami’s essay, runner-up to Hadar's annual Ateret Zvi Prize, uncovers the political and theological resistance of Rabbi Akiva’s laughter in the wake of the destruction of the Temple.
Loyal As A Dog: How to Read “Jewish Art”
Marc Michael Epstein explores the nature of animal motifs in medieval Jewish manuscripts.
No Law in Heaven
Moshe Koppel Reviews Chaim Saiman's Halakhah: The Rabbinic Idea of Law.
Letters to the Editor: The Boundaries of Torah u-Madda
The dynamic conversation continues with three letters to the editor widening our perspective on Torah u-Madda. Steve Gotlib grapples with the challenges of living Torah u-Madda in the real world; Ezequiel Antebi Sacca adds a Sephardic view from Argentina; and Eugene Korn adds insight to the Jewish view on Christianity.
Return… Again? Theories of Twice-Baked Teshuvah
Lehrhaus founder Shlomo Zuckier examines the debate about whether we can repeat Teshuvah for the same sin.
The Death of the Rabbi
Elli Fischer on Rasbhi's passing, his legacy, and some other rabbinic legacies, as well.
Rabbi Yehudah ha-Nasi’s Yom Kippur
Shlomo Zuckier explores the nature of Yom Kippur and its relationship to atonement.
These and Those … But Definitely not Those!
In response to Tzvi Sinensky's earlier essay, Andrew Bennett presents Jewish legal scholar Robert Cover's and noted antisemite Carl Schmitt's thoughts on elu ve-elu.
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