France
You Only Live TwiceTuesday, August 6, 2013 by Michel Gurfinkiel | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
European Judaism looks healthy, and secure. And yet, the majority of European Jews, seconded by many Jewish and non-Jewish experts, insist that catastrophe may lie ahead. Read in full on Mosaic.
The Jewish Egyptian RevivalWednesday, March 13, 2013 by Diana Muir Appelbaum | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Passover marks the day on which God liberated the Israelites from Pharaoh’s rule. But three millennia after the Exodus, emancipated Jews expressed their national identity by building synagogues in the Pharaonic style.
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?"
Chemical Warfare in the Middle East: A Brief HistoryThursday, December 13, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
At this time of Hanukkah’s memories of Syrian tyrants past, the Syrian tyrant present, Bashar al-Assad, has reportedly assembled chemical weapons for use against the rebellion.
The Last Berber JewsFriday, August 10, 2012 by Diana Muir Appelbaum | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
As a child, the French filmmaker Kamal Hachkar learned the Berber language from his grandparents in Tinghir, a Berber oasis city east of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. As an adult he discovered that the now exclusively Muslim town once had a substantial Jewish community.
French LessonsWednesday, March 28, 2012 by Simon Gordon | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The saga that captured headlines around the world last week came to an end when Mohamed Merah—who had murdered four people, including three children, at the Ozer Hatorah Jewish school in Toulouse, France—was shot dead by French police. Before his death, Merah told police negotiators that he was a member of al-Qaeda.
Shalit: The French ConnectionWednesday, October 26, 2011 by Simon Gordon | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
When Gilad Shalit was released on October 17, Israel was not the only country to welcome the liberation of one of its citizens. Although Shalit was born and raised in Israel, he also holds French citizenship, through his grandmother.
Editors' Picks
Fear in France Clémence Boulouque, Tablet. Anti-Semitic attacks in France are becoming deadlier and more frequent, but the French public remains indifferent.
Does Vichy Live On? Robert O. Paxton, New York Review of Books. France's wartime Vichy regime, which collaborated with the Nazis, is often viewed as a historical aberration. But a new book argues that Vichy shaped modern France.
French Jews Under Fire Liam Hoare, Jewish Chronicle. One year after the Toulouse massacre, French Jews face increasing anti-Semitism from Muslims, and have few allies on either side of the political spectrum.
Art at War Jed Perl, New Republic. "Could it be that artists and intellectuals find it soothing to think that they are the particular enemies of authoritarian regimes?"
The Problem with Gay Marriage Gilles Bernheim, First Things. "All the affection in the world will not suffice to produce the basic psychological structures that address the child’s need to know where he comes from."
J'Accuse! Lee Smith, Weekly Standard. Despite pressure from France and Germany, Bulgaria has blamed Hizballah for the July 2012 bombing that killed 5 Israelis—and made the E.U.'s refusal to blacklist Hizballah untenable.
How Ike Screwed Up Suez Michael Doran, Washington Post. Defense Department nominee Chuck Hagel says he admires President Eisenhower’s handling of the Suez crisis. But Eisenhower looked back on Suez as his biggest foreign policy mistake.
The Children Britain Didn't Save Fred Barschak, Jewish Chronicle. The Kindertransport saved 10,000 from Nazi territory in the late 1930s. But when it came to rescuing 1,800 Jewish children from Vichy France in 1942, Britain turned its back.
The Esther Code Rebecca Benhamou, Times of Israel. Just before Nazi Julius Streicher was hanged, he said, “Purim festival, 1946.” A new book, claiming that the Book of Esther predicated the Holocaust, has become a best-seller in France.
How Algeria Lost Its Jews Lyn Julius, Times of Israel. A new exhibit in Paris honors the Jews of Algeria—who, after 2,700 years in the country, were driven out by Arab attacks on Jewish property 50 years ago.