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Jonah and Yom KippurWednesday, September 15, 2010 by Meir Soloveichik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Read in its entirety in the synagogue in the afternoon of Yom Kippur, Jonah is the only multi-chapter book of the Bible to be so honored. Indeed, one commentator, observing that the brief Torah reading that precedes Jonah has little to do with the day, but merely continues where the morning reading left off, has suggested that this may be precisely in order to emphasize that, in a departure from the usual priorities, the haftarah, or prophetic portion, is in fact the critical text for the occasion. But what makes it so significant, and what lesson does it really teach about Yom Kippur?
Wednesday, September 15, 2010 by Michael J. Totten | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
A visit to the Golan—a safe and spectacular region with an uncertain future—and conversations with some of its inhabitants. (With photos.)Rise and Fall
Wednesday, September 15, 2010 by Jacob Neusner | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
The academic study of Judaism flourishes at secular American universities, but at the price of a decline in centers of Jewish-sponsored scholarship and its accompanying values.Double-Talk
Wednesday, September 15, 2010 by Ibn Warraq | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf has a history of saying one thing to Western audiences and another to Muslim ones. (Part 1 of 2; part 2 is here.)The Old Home
Wednesday, September 15, 2010 by Adam Kirsch | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
A panoramic survey of East European Jewry in the decades of the great emigration to America paints a picture very different from the conventional image of a slower, simpler "old world."
The Golem: Universal and ParticularTuesday, September 14, 2010 by Benjamin Kerstein | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The most famous and enduring of all Jewish legends is that of the golem, the artificial man. Indeed, with the possible exception of the demon Lilith, briefly pressed into service as a feminist icon, the golem remains the only post-biblical Jewish myth to be widely adopted by non-Jewish culture. Among its recent incarnations are a computer game that bears its name and the army of humanoids who populate James Cameron's film Avatar.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010 by Herman Kieval | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
The best-known ritual of the High Holy Day services has a paradoxical and controversial history. (1968; PDF)Prime Ministers
Tuesday, September 14, 2010 by Jonathan Ferziger | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
Yehuda Avner presents an insider's view of leadership, Israeli-style.Gimme Shelter
Tuesday, September 14, 2010 by Justin Davidson | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
From hemp-fiber scrims and wooden helixes to disused cardboard signs: vote for the sukkah of the future. (With slideshow.)Islamism, Veiled and Unveiled
Tuesday, September 14, 2010 by Paul Berman, Jeffrey Herf, and Marc Lynch | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
A review of The Flight of the Intellectuals draws two critiques, one by them by the author, and a reply by the reviewer.