Current Affairs
The Trouble with HitchensFriday, December 16, 2011 by Benjamin Kerstein | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
When Christopher Hitchens passed away yesterday at the age of 62, the encomia started pouring in almost immediately. Most of this praise is deserved, as the acumen of Hitchens's muscular criticism and the wit of his ripostes will be with us for a long time to come.
Bittersweet CharityThursday, December 8, 2011 by Suzanne Garment | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In a recent issue of Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies and Gender Issues, Debra Mesch, director of the Women's Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy, together with colleagues, has published an article called "Does Jewish Philanthropy Differ by Sex and Type of Giving?"
People of the ByteTuesday, November 15, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Jews have long been the People of the Book. But as computers replace books and possibly libraries, museums, and universities, will they soon be the People of the Byte?
The Dead Sea Scrolls, Alive in Times SquareTuesday, November 8, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In the basement of a converted theater on West 44th Street, tucked between the legendary Sardi's restaurant and a bowling alley, a block from Times Square and across the street from the musical Memphis, is Discovery Times Square.
Eating Your ValuesFriday, November 4, 2011 | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The many Jewish laws regarding food—how it gets from the ground and into our mouths in a kosher manner—are central to Jewish life. But what ethical framework underlies the system of kashrut? Maimonides' justifications for kashrut range from avoiding cruelty to animals and eschewing the idolatrous practices of antiquity to considerations of health.
America’s Holy Haunted HousesMonday, October 31, 2011 by Allan Nadler | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Halloween is most certainly no Jewish holiday; yet its spooky mood is curiously congruent with the ambience that overcomes American synagogues this time of year.
Israel Studies 101Monday, October 3, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The modern American research university is a house of many rooms. The field of Israel Studies, which has emerged in the past decade, occupies one of the newest—and smallest—of those rooms.
Pay to Pray?Wednesday, September 28, 2011 by Jack Wertheimer | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In the middle decades of the 20th century they were called "mushroom synagogues." They popped up in the waning days of summer to provide High Holiday services, then disappeared at the conclusion of Yom Kippur. Today, "mushroom synagogues" are once again in vogue—but with a critical difference.
The Wages of DurbanWednesday, September 21, 2011 by Arch Puddington | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In the days just prior to the assault on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) was very much in the news, and for reasons that are altogether relevant to the mass murder that took place on September 11, 2001.
Rosh Hashanah with the Chief RabbiTuesday, September 20, 2011 by Lawrence Grossman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Ten years ago, the first day of Rosh Hashanah—the two-day Jewish New Year—fell on September 18. That was one week after September 11, 2001, when almost 3,000 people were killed by Muslim terrorists. On that Rosh Hashanah, rabbis did not lack for sermon topics.
Editors' Picks
Quebec's Kosher Bootleggers David Sugarman, Tablet. Montreal Hasidim are selling kosher wine without a permit. Are the Hasidim acting criminally? Are the permitting laws effectively anti-Semitic? The answers are surprisingly unclear.
When a Cantor Can't Debra Rubin, JTA. What's the difference between an "ordained" and an "invested" cantor? Plenty, say Reform officials.
LDS POTUS? Moment. Nine rabbis from different walks of life reflect on what a Mormon president might mean to Jews.
Bloc Party Colin Campbell, Politicker. New York's ultra-Orthodox citizens don't watch TV or follow sports. What do they pay attention to? Politics. And more and more, politicians are paying attention back.
And Justice for All Gil Student, Torah Musings. While Shmuly Yanklowitz's writing is uneven and his scholarship is suspect, his activist agenda is built on classical Judaism.
Henry Kissinger The Mike Wallace Interview. "What is essential," Kissinger says, is to "have some image for the construction of the free world which is based on other motives than simply defending the world against Communism. We must make clear what we are for rather than what we are against." (Video; 1958)
The Patrilineal Predicament Naomi Zeveloff, Forward. Nearly three decades after the Reform movement's landmark decision to accept patrilineal Jews, statistics confirm that the worst fears of critics have come true.
Will Churches Boycott Israel? Giulio Meotti, Ynet. The five biggest mainline Protestant denominations in the United States have all debated or adopted policies intended to divest from or boycott Israel. And much will be decided in the next few months.
Why U? Helen Chernikoff, Jewish Week. As secular universities offer kosher food and religious students opt for more traditional—and cheaper—colleges, Yeshiva University risks losing not only its market share, but its raison d'etre.
J Street: A Dead End? Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post. With minimal—and falling—support in the U.S. coupled with complete divergence from Israeli public opinion, J Street looks irrelevant. But it may yet find an audience in the White House.