Letters to the Editor: Responses to Michael Broyde on Abortion

Two letters to the editor provide alternative perspectives on the question of what Jewish law wants American abortion law to be.

Leviticus, Leonard Cohen, and the Paradox of Rest

Sarah Rindner asks what the Book of Leviticus, Leonard Cohen and the Liberty Bell all have in common.

Rabbi Yehudah Ha-Levi’s Love Song on Jewish Self-Identification for the 7th day of Pesah

Yaakov Jaffe explores Yehuda Ha-Levi's Yom Le-Yabasha.

Passover’s Rupture and Reconstruction

Yosef Lindell argues that the Haggadah focuses on the story of the Exodus rather than on the laws of the paschal sacrifice as a way of looking forward towards the future redemption.

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.

Rethinking Judaism in Early America

Did the Founding Fathers study Kabbalah? Yisroel Ben-Porat reviews Brian Ogren’s new book Kabbalah and the Founding of America.

Subjective Experience in Halakhah: Music During Sefirah as a Case Study

Judah Kerbel explores how differing approaches to listening to music during Sefirat ha-Omer balance the appropriate role for subjectivity in halakhic decision-making.

Israel At War

Israel is at war, and the suffering is difficult to bear. To better appreciate this transformation and the pressures of this moment, we have assembled a symposium of community leaders and thinkers to address the effect of the crisis on Diaspora Jewry.

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.

Introducing The Lehrhaus 2.0

Having just passed our one year anniversary, we have updated our website so that you can more easily engage the great content we are committed to bring our readership week in and week out.