Monthly Essays

The modern world claims mastery of medicine and nature, while stripping us of an essence known since our first days in Eden.

Sixty years ago, Leo Strauss spoke against forsaking the Jewish heritage. Now, when assimilation appears easier than ever and when anti-Semitism has found renewed force in American politics, his message is more relevant than ever.

The Gavriel Tirosh Affair and the costs of Jewish restraint.

Leviticus asks the individual to constrain himself today so that mankind won't lose its way tomorrow.

A true-crime mystery in the Persian court.

Jewish education is being overrun by digital media that promise efficiency and convenience at the cost of mastery.

America ignores the Gaza War’s “eighth front” at its own peril.

Reflections on Israel, America, and the West that remind us we are not captive to fate.

For almost 100 years, appeasement of Arab violence has paid bloody dividends. The lesson has yet to sink in.

Archaeological evidence suggests that the original Hanukkah menorah was made from the spear tips of the Maccabees.

For Hashem, for country, and for Yale.

Jews vs. Rome bridges the great historiographic divide.

Philologos says farewell.

Leading thinkers confront the crisis of anti-Semitism and anti-Western ideology on campus—and explore how America’s universities might yet be renewed.

The historical roots of Israelis’ favorite political epithet.

Reading Homer in wartime.

France, Britain, and Canada pave roads to nowhere.

Many people are delighted to be told that Israel is doing to the Palestinians of Gaza exactly what the Nazis did to the Jews of Europe.