November saw several Zahava and Moshael J. Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought faculty, staff and students publish in leading publications, contributing to the discourse and debates that continue to shape American society and the Jewish people. 

Straus Center Director Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik published his monthly column in Commentary, titled “A Death-Defying Orchestra.” In the article, Rabbi Soloveichik recapped a recent performance by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Paris, describing it as a moment of cultural courage and an embodiment of the miracle of Jewish history. Rabbi Dr. Soloveichik also published an excerpt of his foreword to Kotsuji’s Gift: The Daring Rescue of Japan’s Jewish Refugees in Tablet and was a guest on Christopher J. Scalia’s podcast, Back of the Book. 

Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern, deputy director of the Straus Center, published a series of essays throughout November in the Jewish Journal on American Education, Lincoln and the Akedah (Binding of Isaac), and the Jewish connection to Thanksgiving. He also published a review of Haman: A Biography for Law & Liberty and a reflection on Teddy Roosevelt’s love for the Hebrew Bible for the American Bible Society. Finally, Rabbi Dr. Halpern co-wrote a letter with Wilfred McClay, the Victor Davis Hanson Chair in Classical History and Western Civilization at Hillsdale College, in the Wall Street Journal in response to the rise of antisemitism on the right. 

Straus Center Senior Scholar and Impact Office Director Dr. Tevi Troy published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal voicing his concerns about the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York as well as a piece for Fox News analyzing the satirization of U.S. presidents on Saturday Night Live. His other articles for the month include a history of the White House East Wing and a celebration of William F. Buckley Jr., both for the Washington Examiner, and a reader on former vice president Dick Cheney for the Civitas Institute. 

Lastly, former Straus Scholar Ezra Seplowitz (YC’25) was published in the Wall Street Journal’s “Future View” section. Writing on “Gen Z’s 2025 Thanksgiving Thank Yous,” Seplowitz recounted his grandfather’s arrival at Ellis Island in 1949, connecting it to Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation.

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