Education
More Expensive by the DozenThursday, October 11, 2012 by Dara Horn | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
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
Spinoza in ShtreimelsTuesday, September 4, 2012 by Carlos Fraenkel | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Philosophy professor Carlos Fraenkel wrote that “the cultural relativism that often underlies Western multicultural agendas [is] a much greater obstacle to a culture of debate than religion.” Today, in an exclusive preview from the Jewish Review of Books, Fraenkel relates how his theory fared among a group of Hasidim.
Moravian Morals for MontrealFriday, August 31, 2012 by Allan Nadler | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
When Montreal police entered the home of Amir Khadir, a member of Quebec’s parliament, they found a curiously revealing objet d’art: a parody of Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, with Khadir, in the position of Lady Liberty, standing triumphantly over the corpse of Quebec premier Jean Charest.
Are Day School Vouchers the Answer?Tuesday, August 28, 2012 by Moshe Sokolow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Is Jewish education a parental or communal responsibility? The privately funded heder, with its melamed, or tutor, emphasizes the parental aspect. The publicly maintained talmud torah, or congregational school, emphasizes the communal obligation.
Jewish Studies, Once and FutureThursday, August 23, 2012 by Adina M. Yoffie | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
It’s that time of year again—not just the High Holidays but the time when Jewish college students pore over online course catalogues and make their choices for the fall semester. Will they take Jewish Studies courses? If so, does it matter which ones?
The Daily Page: A “Siyum”-posiumThursday, August 2, 2012 by Jacob J. Schacter, Yoel Finkelman, Michael Carasik, Tzvi H. Weinreb, Devora Steinmetz, Moshe Sokolow, Yehudah Mirsky, Mark Gottlieb, David Glasner, Aryeh Tepper, Marc B. Shapiro, Gil Student, Emanuel Feldman, Alon Shalev, Viva Hammer, Shlomo Zuckier, and Saul J. Berman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
UPDATE: New posts as of 8/3/12, 1:11 a.m.
Disturbing the UniverseWednesday, June 27, 2012 by Daniel C. Matt | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Today, in an exclusive preview from the new issue of the Jewish Review of Books, preeminent Kabbalah scholar Daniel Matt steps away from his Zohar translation for the first time in years to review Lawrence Krauss's New Atheist account of the Big Bang and Alan Lightman's quirky novel about creation. Special to Jewish Ideas Daily readers: Click here to receive a free copy of the whole summer issue!
The Last Holy RebelThursday, June 21, 2012 by Yehudah Mirsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Some years ago, a friend asked what I thought was the more impressive title: "Rabbi," "Doctor," or (the often unwittingly self-parodying) "Rabbi Dr." You know, I said, there's a man in Israel who's one of the most impressive talmidei hakhamim I've ever known—and he's not "Rabbi" or "Doctor."
Steal This SiddurWednesday, June 13, 2012 | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
If anyone might be poised to understand how a project of decentralized authority and radically distributive ownership could operate in a market-based economy, it would be the treasurer of a kibbutz.
The Jewish Left, between History and RevelationMonday, June 11, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The association of Jews with leftist ideas and movements has been a fixture of Western politics for the past 150 years. But is the relationship logical and necessary, or is it historical and contingent?
Editors' Picks
Misunderstanding Midrash Moshe Shamah, Jewish Ideas and Ideals. Maimonides wrote that those who take the Midrash literally "destroy the Torah’s glory and darken its brilliance," but many Orthodox teachers today do just that.
Move Over, Looney Tunes Samuel Thrope, Tablet. The artists at Studio G-dcast are making animated cartoons of talmudic discussions. Are they expanding the audience for the Talmud or creating another excuse not to read?
School's Out Forever Seth Berkman, Forward. A new survey reveals that the number of Schechter schools in America has fallen by over 35% since 1998. Is there a future for non-Orthodox Jewish day schools?
O Pioneers! Bentzi Epstein, Klal Perspectives. In 1992, four observant Jewish families migrated to Dallas in a bid to lay the foundations of a Torah community. Twenty years later, they have done just that.
Judaism's Intellectual Boot Camp David Brinn, Jerusalem Post. "One great religious leader can move a community, one great political leader can shoulder a nation, and one intellectual leader can change hearts and minds."
E Pluribus Unum? Ashley Rogers Berner, First Things. The United States requires all publicly funded schools to be secular, but several European governments provide public funding to religious schools. Which model is better?
For Whom the Pell Tolls Paul Berger, Forward. Michigan Jewish Institute was a small college until it received $25 million in federal Pell Grants; now it is an online university—and its students are learning in Israel.
Math and Anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union Edward Frenkel, New Criterion. A leading mathematician recalls anti-Semitic university admissions in the USSR.
The Haredi Conundrum Gershom Gorenberg, Prospect. While Haredi men in Israel are beginning to realize that the status quo cannot last much longer, they lack the basic education necessary to enter the workforce.
Homeshuling Steve Lipman, Jewish Week. As the cost of Jewish schools in America soars, several hundred families have taken to educating their children at home.