In the past two months, faculty, staff, and students at the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought have contributed numerous articles in a variety of venues.

Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, Director of the Straus Center, published two articles in Commentary Magazine on how the Jewish story is the American story and the story of a Jewish song recently composed and sung in the Gaza Strip.

Deputy Director Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern published three timely articles in Tablet Magazine on the modern resonance of the ancient Jewish fast day of the Tenth of Tevet, a musical tradition about Joseph, and a reflection on Tu B’shevat. And in Jewish Journal, Dr. Halpern wrote pieces on Joseph’s coat of many colors, how Exodus served as a script for the American story, and on Judaism’s dialectic essence.

Multiple Straus Center staff and faculty contributed chapters to a new edited volume organized by Yeshiva University’s Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership entitled An Ode to Joy: Judaism and Happiness in the Thought of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and Beyond, published by Palgrave Macmillan. As reported in Jewish Link, the Sacks-Herenstein Center will celebrate a book launch on Monday, February 5th with an event featuring Straus Center Resident Scholar Dr. Shaina Trapedo in conversation with two other book contributors, Rabbi Dr. JJ Schacter and Dr. Liel Leibovitz.

Straus Center Senior Scholar Dr. Tevi Troy published a piece in City Journal on why universities target Jews, and as 2023 concluded, he presented his annual roundup of notable books in National Review. On Sunday, February 25, 2024, he will teach part 1 of a class for The Tikvah Fund on “Jews and the American Presidency: At Home and Abroad.”

Associate Director Dr. Neil Rogachevsky published Mosaic Magazine’s monthly feature essay on Ben-Gurion’s statesmanship. On January 30th, Mosaic hosted a live Zoom event on the subject featuring Dr. Rogachevsky in conversation with Avi Shilon and Ran Baratz.

Finally, two Straus Scholars have also published articles. Tziporah Pinczower (SCW ‘26) penned an open letter in Jewish Journal to today’s college students who are calling for an intifada. And Joshua Shapiro (YC ‘25) explored in Lehrhaus how close readers of the biblical text can find a unifying theory for the reasons behind the ten plagues.