A Yale student returns to class, with a Jewish question (and answer) about why she’s there
Cartoonist Mia Rose Kohn explores the purpose of intellectual study through her art
Courtesy of Mia Rose Kohn
Mia Rose Kohn January 15, 2026
“We’re back with the books, in silent rooms, where the world is made of words, like so many before us — and I can’t stop wondering why,” writes Mia Rose Kohn, a cartoonist, journalist and junior studying at Yale University.
In this first installment of a graphic column for the Forward, she draws from the great works of the Jewish Enlightenment to theorists of the modern era, as she asks herself — and us — “If education is a Jewish value, what does Jewish thought have to say about why we’re here?”
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