Christianity
Christianity: Good for the Jews?Friday, May 24, 2013 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Examining the state of contemporary Christendom in an article first published January 5, 2012, Elliot Jager asks whether Jews have an interest in seeing Christianity thrive—and answers yes.
The Outstretched HandWednesday, April 10, 2013 by Motti Inbari | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
My family and I celebrated Passover in Lumberton, North Carolina. We are the only Israelis in town and, as far as I know, the only Jews. But it’s not as lonely as it might sound, thanks to our Evangelical Christian neighbors.
Who Says There Are No Coincidences?Wednesday, March 6, 2013 by David Glasner | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In certain Orthodox circles, the idea that there are no coincidences has become a principle of faith. But it contradicts a more fundamental Jewish doctrine: human free will.
When Liberal Protestants Were ZionistsTuesday, March 5, 2013 by Judah Bellin | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
It is hard to imagine a liberal Christian theologian passionately defending Zionism today. But Reinhold Niebuhr praised Zionism as a means to the establishment of "highest civilization."
Opening the Gates of JudaismWednesday, February 20, 2013 by Motti Inbari | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Given the demographic and spiritual decline among “biological” Jews in America, if we want to keep Judaism alive, we must do something that we haven't done for 2000 years: proselytize.
Leaving the GhettoFriday, February 8, 2013 by Jacob Katz | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
"Was there any possibility," asks Jacob Katz in this 1996 Commentary essay, "that the Jews collectively might have been accepted in Europe on their own terms—that is, as a community, with a religion opposed to Christianity?"
Shabbat Shirah: Song Takes WingMonday, January 21, 2013 by Jerry Friedman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Complementing the Song of the Sea, which will be read this Shabbat in synagogue, the Rabbis suggested a home-based ritual to celebrate Shabbat Shirah: feeding the birds.
Seeking the Peace of Jerusalem—or a Piece of Jerusalem?Thursday, January 17, 2013 by Moshe Sokolow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Archeology has become a full-fledged battlefield in the dispute over who has the superior claim to Jerusalem: Jews or Muslims.
Dr. Orlinsky and Mr. GreenFriday, January 4, 2013 by Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Harry Orlinsky is best known today as “Mr. Green,” the scholar who authenticated the four Dead Sea Scrolls offered for sale in a Wall Street Journal want ad. But his legacy as a Bible scholar is enormous.
’Twas the Day After Christmas . . .Wednesday, December 26, 2012 by Ethan Schwartz | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Joshua Eli Plaut’s new book, A Kosher Christmas: ’Tis the Season to Be Jewish, fails to recognize that in subverting Christmas, American Jews have promoted their own assimilation.
Editors' Picks
Discovering Gush Halav Aviva Bar-Am, Shmuel Bar-Am, Times of Israel. Despite centuries of persecution, Galilee-based Christian followers of a hermit named Mar Maroun have refused to abandon their faith. Sound familiar?
Could the Holy Ghost be Jewish? Philologos, Forward. The roots of a quintessential Christian concept trace back to the Hebrew Bible.
Interfaith Monologue Patrick Morrow, Jewish Chronicle. The Church of Scotland's report questioning Israel's right to exist read "as if there had been no Jewish-Christian dialogue since the Second World War."
Beyond Emancipation Robert Fine, Fathom. "Mendelssohn insisted that the Haskalah, the Jewish enlightenment of the 18th century, was about the education and advancement of Jews, not about saving humanity from their allegedly noxious influence."
Remembering Geza Vermes Mark Goodacre, NT Blog. An authority on the early history of both Judaism and Christianity, Geza Vermes, who passed away this week, translated the Dead Sea Scrolls and revolutionized the academic study of Jesus.
Unmasking Anti-Semitism Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Jerusalem Post. "It is not because they are 'good Christians' that the Europeans are instinctively anti-Semites," wrote Zionist leader Harry Sacher. "It is because they are bad Christians, in reality repressed pagans."
The Sound of Silence Karen Armstrong, Literary Review. "Negative theology does not mean the suppression of speech; rather, it takes us through speech to another dimension of reality."
Art That's "Too Jewish" Bernard Starr, Algemeiner. Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millet was aiming to revive the Christian pathos of early-Renaissance art. But critics attacked him for "portraying the youthful Savior as a red-headed Jew boy."
Learning from the Popes Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Cardozo Academy. In the midst of its troubles, the modern Catholic church has recently produced a series of widely differing but extraordinary popes. Can Israel’s chief rabbinate learn from their example?
God's Children James Tabor, Taborblog. Angels, anointed kings, and the Children of Israel are all called sons of God in the Bible—without its implying that they share in God's divinity.