In the past month, the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought has continued making a significant impact across the media landscape, with multiple new publications, podcasts, lectures, and other contributions.
Staff, app, and students at the Straus Center have published numerous pieces and received media coverage in a variety of venues. In The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Barton Swaim Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, Director of the Straus Center, about his new book, Providence and Power: Ten Portraits in Jewish Statesmanship, and its relevance for present-day American politics. Straus Scholar Tziporah Pinczower (SCW ‘26), a member of our newest cohort of students, published a to the editor and contributed to WSJ's "" feature. She has now written a total of three times for WSJ this semester, having last month as well.
In Jewish Journal, Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern, Deputy Director of the Straus Center, published pieces on the and the symbolism of . And Straus Scholar Tamara Yeshurun (SCW ‘26) on the symbolism of the shalshelet, a rare cantillation mark that only appears three times in the book of Genesis. In the Washington Free Beacon, Rabbi Soloveichik The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World by Dan Senor and Saul Singer.
As Thanksgiving approached, Yisroel Ben-Porat, the Straus Center’s Programming and Communications Officer, joined the podcast to discuss the responsa of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein on celebrating Thanksgiving. And in , he drew on the history of Thanksgiving to shed new light on the halachic analysis.
In the , Dr. Troy discussed how President Biden has continued to support Israel despite internal dissension within his administration. Dr. Troy also joined two episodes of Tablet’s “Take One” Daf Yomi podcast, the conflict between the bonds with our own people and those of the larger community, and how themes of liability in historically took place in the White House.
Rabbi Dr. Dov Lerner, Clinical Assistant Professor at the Straus Center, published a on the thought of Rabbi Sacks, and Yisroel Ben-Porat contributed an article to the latest issue of . Other Straus Center staff and app are working on multiple book projects in progress. Dr. Troy’s forthcoming book, The Power and the Money: The Epic Clashes Between American Titans of Industry and Commanders in Chief, was reported by and .
