Interfaith dialogue

Christianity: Good for the Jews?

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 Hand

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.

Is Judah Halevi’s Kuzari Racist?

A recent attempt to redeem the Kuzari from the charge of ethnocentrism raises the question as to whether Jewish texts should be reinterpreted to accord with modern sensibilities.

Dr. Orlinsky and Mr. Green

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.

Inheriting Abraham

On August 28, Jon D. Levenson, the Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard University, spoke with the current class of Tikvah fellows about his latest book, the first volume in the Library of Jewish Ideas: Inheriting Abraham. Here, an edited transcript of the event.

Renaissance Men

Hugo Grotius. Isaac Abravanel. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.  These are not names normally mentioned in the same breath, but taken together, their experiences with and thoughts regarding interfaith encounters are instructive.

Does Jacob Hate Esau?

Jews have traditionally kept non-Jews at arm’s length.  The rabbinic approach to anti-Semitism may be summarized as Halakhah hi b’yadu’a she-Eisav sonei et Yaakov, “It is an established normative principle that Esau hates Jacob.” 

Cousins: Jews and Arabs Seek Each Other Out

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. So, it seems, is the rule governing Jews and Arabs: the farther apart they are from one another, the greater their mutual interest, while the greater their proximity, the more antagonistic they seem.

Catholics, Jews, and Jewish Catholics

Jews and Catholics in the English-speaking world have so much in common that they ought to make common cause more often than they actually do. The friction between them that sometimes catches fire is, as often as not, based on mutual ignorance and mistrust.

Muslims and Jews in America

Consider these two questions: During the past ten years, approximately 170 American Muslims have been arrested for plotting terror attacks against Jews or materially aiding other terrorists.