Article Archives

Biblical Politics

Michael Walzer is a pivotal figure in the recovery of the Jewish political tradition.  From his early book, Exodus and Revolution, which traced the impact of the Exodus story on Western politics, through his editorship, with Israeli colleagues, of the projected four-volume Jewish Political Tradition, Walzer is almost unrivalled as a scholar of Jewish political thought.

Crisis in the Curriculum

In 1953, in a bold move, Israel passed a State Education Law.  Before then, Israeli education was run by political movements and parties which used their schools not just to teach the three R's but to indoctrinate as many unsuspecting youngsters as possible.

Is Judaism a Proselytizing Religion?

When Mitt Romney became the Republican Presidential candidate, some of the media attention focused on his experience as a Mormon  missionary in France and asked, subtly or not so subtly, whether a member of a proselytizing religion could properly lead a pluralistic society.

Cousins: Jews and Arabs Seek Each Other Out

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. So, it seems, is the rule governing Jews and Arabs: the farther apart they are from one another, the greater their mutual interest, while the greater their proximity, the more antagonistic they seem.

One-Step Ethics

For 13 years in the New York Times Magazine, Randy Cohen’s weekly column, “The Ethicist,” posed and answered ethical questions from readers. I turned to the book for a summation of his ethical sensibility—and found evidence of both his decency and the limits of his secular approach, which in turn highlight a danger society currently faces.

Ettinger’s Redemption

I am not sure I would have read Shmuel Ettinger if the award-winning Israeli film Footnote, which centers on the relationship between a father and son who are both members of the Talmud department of the Hebrew University, hadn’t whetted my appetite for gossip about that august institution.

Hans Bethe and the Problem of “Jewish Genius”

Few topics make Jews more uncomfortable than the question of “Jewish genius.”  While Jews happily point to the extraordinary scientific accomplishments of their co-religionists, discussion of the genetic or cultural basis of these achievements causes squirming and denials.

The “Married to another Man” Story

In the introduction to his popular and influential history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, The Iron Wall, Oxford professor Avi Shlaim tells this story: "The publication of [Herzl's] The Jewish State evoked various reactions in the Jewish com­munity, some strongly favorable, some hostile, and some skeptical . . ."

More Expensive by the Dozen

A hundred years ago, industrial efficiency expert Frank Gilbreth, Jr. claimed that children were “cheaper by the dozen.”  Recently the economist Bryan Caplan made the modern version of the self-interested argument for producing more offspring.  In an exclusive feature from the current issue of the Jewish Review of Books, novelist Dara Horn elegantly begs to differ.  —The Editors

Strategic Investment in Israel’s New War

Foreign governments, acting thoughtfully and strategically, fund dozens of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that form a flourishing anti-Israel movement within Israel itself.