Israel’s Daring Raid to Capture a Hamas Chief
With the help of Palestinian militias.
September 3, 2026
Isaac Leeser, American Judaism, and the Birth of American Orthodoxy
“A hero of Judaism and the Jewish people.”
Born in Western Germany, Isaac Leeser (1806–1868) received both a general education and a traditional Jewish one before he came to the U.S. at the age of seventeen. The country he arrived in had almost no professional rabbinate to speak of. After becoming the hazzan of the Philadelphia congregation, Leeser almost singlehandedly introduced the English-language synagogue sermon to the U.S., published basic Hebrew texts (including his own translation of the Torah), founded a Jewish magazine, and engaged in apologetics in the general press. Lance Sussman and Elazar Meisels discuss his remarkable career and legacy in conversation with Nachi Weinstein. (Audio, 107 minutes.)
September 3, 2026
Making Sense of the U.S. Siege of Iran
Between capitulation and all-out war.
Why American Universities Produce Radicals
Our best and brightest minds have been trained to speak confidently about matters they do not understand.
Odysseus, Abraham, and the Roots of Western Literature
Erich Auerbach’s case for Jerusalem over Athens.
Isaac Leeser, American Judaism, and the Birth of American Orthodoxy
“A hero of Judaism and the Jewish people.”