Elana Stein Hain, at The Blogs

Elana Stein Hain

Mar 12, 2025, 2:48 PM

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The Megillah as a Rorschach test

Illuminated Esther Scroll Manuscript; ink and pigment on parchment from Ferrara, Italy, circa 1615. (Ardon Bar-Hama)

Tell me how the Scroll of Esther defines salvation and I'll tell you where you live

Dec 7, 2023, 12:23 PM

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Hanukkah as the messy middle

The large Hanukkah menorah (or hanukkiah), at the Western Wall. (iStock)

This year, the most powerful lessons can be found in the holiday's partial victories, flawed heroes and internal strife

Feb 5, 2021, 12:45 PM

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The Mobius strip of truth and relationships

What if we all took the time to figure out what is true, instead of letting ourselves get caught up in the opinions of those we care about?

May 27, 2020, 4:04 PM

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Going to Sinai without community

Moses on Mount Sinai, painted circa 1895-1900, by Jean-Léon Gérôme. (Wikimedia Commons)

The COVID version of Judaism is profound, but we are missing the communal ritual that doesn't care about us as individuals -- and buoys us through the shared experience nonetheless

Mar 18, 2020, 3:16 PM

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Soul and breath: A prayer

Illustrative. A stormy, windblown sky. (iStock)

In the absence of all the communal gathering that provides comfort and focus, I have written a prayer to help us cope

May 2, 2017, 7:24 PM

Within independence

The following is a personal midrash in honor of Yom Ha’atzmaut #69. It is written in the style of the play on words often found in rabbinic midrash introduced by deliberate changes of letters and phonic associations. This form...

Nov 24, 2016, 3:26 PM

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Some of my best friends are racist

When loyalty to one's own prevents the commanding moral voice of Judaism from evoking concern for 'the other'

Aug 28, 2016, 2:08 PM

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A new normal for Orthodox leadership

How the traditional community must fight its (natural) discomfort with the fresh, distinctly female face of its clergy

Sep 7, 2015, 1:24 PM

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Baffled by the High Holidays? That’s life

Difficulty relating to the holidays is not a problem to solve, it's a paradigm for how to find meaning

About Me

Dr. Elana Stein Hain is rosh beit midrash and a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where she serves as a lead faculty member and oversees the activities of the Kogod Research Center.