The Upside-Down Search for Hametz
Eli Genauer explores the profound impact of a printing error on the halakhot of Pesah.
Professor Menahem Hayyim Schmelzer’s Beloved Books
David Selis and Zvi Erenyi share their memories of JTS Librarian Professor Menahem Schmelzer for his sheloshim.
The Pregnant Sotah: A Case Study in the Ethics of Abortion
Yisroel Ben-Porat grapples with whether the case of the pregnant Sotah has implications for the debates surrounding abortion.
Going Viral
A new poem from Zohar Atkins offers a poetic meditation on life in the COVID world.
She-Hehiyanu: An Endangered Blessing Species
It is customary to celebrate Tu Bi-Shevat by eating fruits and reciting the She-Hehiyanu blessing on them. This custom, however, has proved challenging in recent years as advances in technology have made it difficult to find new fruit—as defined by halakhah—to say the She-Hehiyanu
The Nature of Halakhic Civil Law
Chaim Saiman analyzes how the Torah's two introductions to the revelation at Sinai correspond to two perspectives on the nature of halakhic civil law.
“Like a Fleeting Dream”: U-netaneh Tokef, Dreams, and the Meaning of the High Holy...
Man’s actions—even those that seem fleeting and insignificant—can have an impact, positive or negative. Oren Oppenheim explores themes of u-Netaneh Tokef
Pesah and Shavuot, Or: Emancipation and Freedom
Jerome Marcus explores understandings of freedom within halakhah and how they relate to Pesah and Shavuot
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.
Who Knows? Jewish Leadership in Times of Uncertainty
"Who Knows" seems to have become a recurring question for so many of us. Erica Brown shares personal and biblical reflections on the meaning of this phrase for the age of coronavirus.
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