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Secular Saint?Thursday, March 1, 2012 by Daniel Johnson | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
Tony Judt is revered by atheist hagiographers and graces the secular pantheon, but his legacy is a share in the moral decay of Europe which will leave no civilization to remember him.Chained Melody
Thursday, March 1, 2012 by Uri Zer Aviv | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
In its heyday, the Mizrahi Orchestra numbered 36 musicians, who uniquely preserved Jewish music from the Babylonian Diaspora. But amid financial woes, its future looks bleak.
Jews, Damned Jews, and SociologistsThursday, March 1, 2012 by Yehudah Mirsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
What is this thing called Jewishness? What does it look like? What are its boundaries? Even the most neutral-sounding answer reflects some position on one side or the other of the crazy-quilt of conflicts that have defined and continue to define Jewish life over the last 200 years.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 by Robert Wistrich | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
The persistence of anti-Semitism is not as juicy a story as the Arab Spring or the nuclearization of Iran. But it is also not covered for fear that the truth about Islamism will prevent peace. (Interview by Benjamin Weinthal)Orange Dreams
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 by Orat | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
How, amid tragedy, one enterprising family helped launch Israel's renowned citrus industry.Preaching to the Converters
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 by Lawrence Grossman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
Two non-Orthodox scholars analyze the Orthodox legal tradition on conversion, showing how strongly it has been influenced by considerations of public policy. But they will only convince those who need no convincing.T’tzaveh: Clothes Make the Man
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 by Moshe Sokolow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
This week's portion opens with the manufacture of the priestly vestments. When their manufacture is complete, God instructs Moses to dress Aaron and his sons in the vestments, anoint them, "fill their hands" and sanctify them to serve (28:41). Rashi (1040–1105) explains: "Every instance of 'filling the hands' signifies initiation."The Ever-Growing Palestinian Problem
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 by Daniel Pipes | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
In contrast to all other refugee populations, which diminish in number as people settle down or die, the Palestine refugee population has grown over time.
Gertrude Stein, Fascist?Wednesday, February 29, 2012 by Eitan Kensky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Does it say something that the most indelible portraits of Gertrude Stein come from the outside? Or, to frame the question a different way: what does it say when our most lasting impressions of a writer are based not on her words, but on the visions and appropriations of others?
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 by Ron Naiweld | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Picks
How did the prohibition on consuming blood, emphasized repeatedly in the Torah and law codes, become almost marginal in the collective Jewish consciousness?