Tzvi Sinensky

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Sinensky is Director of the Lamm Legacy archive and Director of Judaics at Main Line Classical Academy. A member of the inaugural cohort of Sacks Scholars, he served as an editor of The Lehrhaus and has edited over fifty books.

Yaakov and Esav: Two Models of Manhood

The story of Esav and Yaakov is a story of dueling models of manhood. From the beginning, it is clear that of the twins, Esav is portrayed, as measured against a biblical and Ancient Near Eastern yardstick, as more “manly” than Yaakov. He is hairy, red or ruddy, and a

Demystifying R. Eliezer Waldenberg on Sex Reassignment Surgery

Demystifying R. Eliezer Waldenberg on Sex Reassignment Surgery Tzvi Sinensky The Enigma R. Eliezer Waldenberg (1915-2006), arguably the previous generation’s greatest decisor in the area of medicine and Halakhah, is cited more often than any authority concerning the halakhic efficacy of sex reassignment surgery (SRS). Ironically, the steady

The Torah is Not a Political Football

The Torah Is Not A Political FootballWe dare not cavalierly throw around the Torah as if it’s part of a political game. It’s not a plaything that can simply be discarded. It’s a sacred text to be treasured, revered, and explored agThe Jewish PressRabbi Dr. Tzvi Sinensky

The Children’s Book About R. Aharon Lichtenstein That Belongs on Your Summer Reading List

The best children’s books miraculously manage to transport their readers to innocent and inspiring realms. For children’s books designed for parents to read to their children, these readers include children and adults alike. The deceptively high level of difficulty in pulling off this feat is magnified for non-

Yasher Koach!

Delivered at Kehillat Sha'arei Orah, Shabbat Parshat Ekev, 8/20/2022 At the end of this Dvar Torah, it’s entirely possible that an Ashkenazi will wish me a big “yasher koach.” This is, of course, a diminutive of “yishar kokhacha” (not yeyasher kokhacha, as is commonly thought,

The Gendered Voices of Eikhah

Most chapters of Eikhah feature a woman, Chapter 3 a gever or quintessential male. Most chapters feature a woman’s suffering in agonizing detail, Chapter 3 a gever’s anguish in almost stylized terms. Most chapters feature a woman and narrator who speak at varying lengths, Chapter 3 a man

A Return to Moderation: Rabbi Lamm’s Passionate Plea for Civility

Originally published on The Lehrhaus [https://thelehrhaus.com/commentary/a-return-to-moderation-rabbi-lamms-passionate-plea-for-civility/] : R. Norman Lamm’s reputation rightly rides on his commitment to Torah u-Madda [https://amzn.to/3pbacaU]. Yet throughout his life, another motif rivaled, and perhaps even eclipsed, his embrace

What’s Really at Stake in the Israeli Elections

(originally posted June 23, 2022) “Let us be strong and resolute for the sake of our people and the cities of our God; and God will do what He deems right.”חֲזַ֤ק וְנִתְחַזַּק֙ בְּעַד־עַמֵּ֔נוּ וּבְעַ֖ד

A Time to Speak, a Time to Listen

(originally posted June 26, 2022) For any men who are applauding the Supreme Court ruling, or even ambivalent: There is a time to promote your political position or debate the issues. But that time is decidedly not now. In case it isn’t blatantly obvious, now is an especially poor

Self-Loathing, The Three Weeks, and a Plea to Rediscover Mentschlechkeit

What motivated Balak to seek to destroy the Jews? On its face, it was sheer terror. But a close reading suggests that something else was also at play. The Torah says not only ויגר מואב, that Moab trembled in fear, but also ויקץ מואב מפני בני ישראל. The root קוצ,

Notes on an Unrepentant Kotzker Darshan

Article is now publicly available at the Tradition website at this link [https://traditiononline.org/notes-on-an-unrepentant-kotzker-darshan/]. Enjoy!

Reaping Well-Earned Rewards

The Greek sophist Antiphon declared that “whenever one plants a good education in a young body, it lives and increases for the whole of life, and neither rain nor drought destroys it.” Thus Antiphon inaugurated the long tradition of thinkers who compare education to agriculture. In Plato’s dialogue The

The Utilitarian Case for Torah u-Madda

It has become fashionable to say that Torah u-Madda has fallen out of fashion. In this environment, Lawrence Grossman’s recent essay title “The Rise and Fall of [https://academic.oup.com/mj/article-abstract/41/1/71/6045068?redirectedFrom=PDF] Torah U’Madda [https://academic.oup.com/mj/

Lo Yilbash and Gender Difference: A Rejoinder to Moshe Kurtz

Moshe Kurtz is a passionate scholar who deserves credit for being unafraid to publish an essay weighing in on a sensitive contemporary subject [https://thelehrhaus.com/scholarship/cross-dressing-and-cross-conduct-when-lo-yilbash-meets-contemporary-western-culture/] . Kurtz, however, fails to demonstrate that lo yilbash provides an adequate

How to Make Decisions in a Pandemic

Throughout much of the pandemic, there was a strong consensus within the Modern Orthodox community as we parted ways from the lax attitudes pervasive among our brethren in other segments of Orthodoxy. Notwithstanding the dark Spring of 2020, our swift and dramatic response gave us a sense of pride that

On Remembering Sheldon Silver

On Remembering Sheldon Silver, z”lA recent feature in The Jewish Link recalls former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (“Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver Niftar at Age 77,” January 26, 2022). Silver certainly accomplished much good during his career. It is also true that the revelations of the

Aligning Our Will With God’s Will: On the Meaning of Bat Mitzvah

Over the last few months, Moriah and I have enjoyed many mature and thoughtful conversations about what it really means to be a Bat Mitzvah. But instead of rehashing another one of my shpielen, I thought I’d take a different tack and inquire as to the meaning of Bat

The Jewish Hercules and Superman

With “Superman and Lois,” the newest TV series involving the character, premiering recently on the CW network, it’s a good time to recall that Superman was the 1938 brainchild of Jewish creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Many have suggested that the pair were inspired by their own Jewish

Vashti Comes to America

Originally published in Esther in America, pps. 105-115. Vashti, Ahasuerus’ first queen, is among the most enigmatic characters in the Book of Esther. While the king revels with his subjects for some six months, he commands Vashti to appear before him “to display her beauty to the peoples and

The Real Problem with the Chiefs - and Football

Protesters, including numerous Native American groups, called today for the Chiefs to change their name due to insensitivity toward Native American groups. In fact, this past year the Chiefs banned headdresses and NA-themed face painting. The team says they'll continue to explore the issue with the goal

The Myth of Jewish Male Menstruation

Most of the medieval Christian antisemitic tropes, such as Jews as ritual murderers and cash-grubbing moneylenders, are hauntingly familiar. Hideous depictions associated Jews with Satan. Christians ascribed to Jews deformed bodily characteristics including pointed noses, horns, and hemorrhoids.[1] [https://www.thelehrhaus.com/scholarship/the-myth-of-jewish-male-

Masculinity and the Hanukkah Hero: Toward a New Interpretation of Biblical Gevurah

The story of masculinity, heroism, and Hanukkah has been told countless times in the past century. Depending on who is talking, it is variously recounted to champion a return to pre-rabbinic biblical values (think David Ben Gurion) or, more recently, as a call to recover a “softer” rabbinic model

(Re)reading Shir ha-Shirim during Covid-19

This year’s confluence of Passover and a pandemic has spurred countless halakhic questions. Among them: given that synagogue services are impermissible, should one praying individually still read Shir ha-Shirim on Shabbat Hol ha-Moed? On one level, this can be analyzed as a strict halakhic matter. The question

The Passover Pandemic

Our confrontation with tragic realities sometimes provides a new lens through which to view familiar categories. This year, our experience of the novel coronavirus offers us new insight into the Ten Plagues, which are central to the coming holiday of Passover. Above all, it is the most lethal of the

Esther the Queen, Hester Prynne, and The Scarlet Letter as Biblical Commentary

Note: This article was subsequently republished in the book Esther in America [https://korenpub.com/products/esther-in-america]. Megillat Esther tells us precious little about Esther’s inner world. We know about her early life: the death of her parents, her maturation in Mordecai’s house, and how she