Yitzchak Blau writes on the 2008 film “Doubt” and its depiction of authoritarian structures and sexual abuse: The Jewish community is not immune from this scourge. The processes of selecting and grooming victims, cover-ups in misguided attempts to protect institutions, and an inability to deal with this on a communal level transcend social and religious divides. This week in The BEST.

Sarah Rudolph writes on the ongoing “Jewish” relevance of Plato’s Dialogues: Socratic dialogue has echoes in Jewish tradition. We would do well to study and appreciate it as such. Jewish thought is rooted in questions; we dig into our texts and find ourselves full of questions. Our never-ending questions keep our oral and written traditions alive and relevant.

In The BEST Chaim Strauchler writes on Emily Dickinson and the function of art: For Dickinson, in her terse paradoxical style, art tells “all the truth” – but does so in a way that can be understood. A certain degree of falsehood – slant – must be included in effective truthful communication.

In this Omer season, as we read each Shabbat from Avot, Ephraim Fruchter sees parallels in Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations” and draws our attention to the benefits of reading this classic ethical text opposite the musar tradition.