If Your Wife Is Short, Bend Down and Hear Her Whisper: Rereading Tanur shel...
Miriam Gedwiser
Sometimes, returning to a familiar text uncovers something new. In this essay, I hope to reexamine the story of the Oven of Akhnai...
Rabbi Yohanan Reads the Book of Job
In his latest for the Lehrhaus, Dan Ornstein creatively imagines the story of the Talmudic sage Rabbi Yohanan through his teachings on the Book of Job. The short story is followed by a reflection on the methodology and power of "contemporary midrash."
Nine Measures
Tehila Wenger offers a short story on loss, eternity, and olive trees .
Of Divine Nostrils and the Primordial Altar: A Pipeline of Sanctity
What does the makeup of the altar drainage pipes tell us about the nature of holiness? Shlomo Zuckier explores!
Don’t Forget David’s Literary Temple! A Rebuttal to Levi Morrow
Harvard Professor Jon Levenson weighs in on what stops the floodwaters:
rabbinic creativity or the Temple!
In Plain Sight: Jewish Masquerade from Clueless to the Rabbis
Why have stories of Jewish masquerade captured audiences since ancient times? In her latest, Malka Z. Simkovich explores the hidden meaning behind dressing up, from the Second Temple to '90s cinema.
Cutting a Peace: The Story of Ketiah bar Shalom
Shlomo Zuckier offers a close literary reading of the fascinating Ketia bar Shalom narrative on Avodah Zarah 10b!
Loyal As A Dog: How to Read “Jewish Art”
Marc Michael Epstein explores the nature of animal motifs in medieval Jewish manuscripts.
The Fourth Chapter of Avot as an extended reflection on Epicurean Philosophy
In the spirit of Hanukkah, Yaakov Jaffe offers an intriguing thesis tying together a series of Mishnayot in the fourth chapter of Pirkei Avot: they are all responding to various aspects of Epicurean philosophy.
Practicing Neo-Hasidism: Insights from Arthur Green’s Writings
Jonah Mac Gelfand explores the neo-Hasidic theology of obligation to do mitzvot that emerges from the fascinating writings of Rabbi Arthur Green.
Site Operations and Technology by The Berman Consulting Group.