Jewish Identity
Coming HomeThursday, March 7, 2013 by Ella Taylor | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
I’ve visited and lived in Israel since then, but mostly I’ve been in London and the United States. By most measures, every city in which I’ve put down roots in is an easier place to live than just about anywhere in Israel.
Who’s Sadat? Or, Defining Israel Literacy UpwardMonday, March 4, 2013 by David B. Starr | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
American Jewry is becoming less and less well informed about Zionism and Israel. Can anything be done to reverse this decline?
The Portuguese PhoenixTuesday, February 26, 2013 by Kevin Zdiara | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Founded to resurrect Portuguese Judaism 75 years ago, Kadoorie Mekor Haim synagogue in Porto remains a symbol of Jewish resilience, faith, and conviction.
Purim in a New York TaxiFriday, February 22, 2013 by Viva Hammer | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In reading the megillah together, my brother and I share a special bond of experience, family history played out against the rich backdrop of our people’s history.
Theology, Identity, and CovenantFriday, February 15, 2013 by David Hartman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
David Hartman, who passed away on Sunday, was among the foremost Jewish theologians of his generation. Here, we reprint some of his thoughts on God and the Jewish people.
Speaking What Must Be SpokenThursday, February 14, 2013 by Diane Cole | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The sheer number of books on the Holocaust has long demanded a guide to Holocaust literature that would be as accessible as it was comprehensive and scholarly. Now we have one.
Is Judah Halevi’s Kuzari Racist?Wednesday, February 13, 2013 by Ari Ackerman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
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.
Leibowitz at 110Monday, February 11, 2013 by Jeffrey Saks | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
A scientist, a philosopher, and a sharp-tongued public intellectual, Yeshayahu Leibowitz was an oracle for some, a crank to others. Two decades since his death, his ideas remain influential on Israeli society.
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?"
Life Goes OnMonday, February 4, 2013 by Jonathan Gondelman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Life Goes On, by German-Jewish novelist Hans Keilson, had been forgotten since the Nazis banned it in 1934. Now, a year after Keilson's death, it has been translated into English.
Editors' Picks
The Next Generation Dana Evan Kaplan, H-Net. Jack Wertheimer's new study of young American Jewish leaders claims that, contrary to popular belief, not all of them are working to bring down the establishment.
Keeping the Campfires Burning Gil Shefler, JTA. Remember the joys of Jewish summer camp? Foundations think that Jewish camping is critical to Jewish identity, and they’re increasing subsidies to keep it affordable.
Community, Covenant, and Commitment George E. Johnson, Jewish Ideas and Ideals. While Joseph B. Soloveitchik ruled out religious collaboration with non-Orthodox Jews, he advocated political unity. But since his death, American Jewry has fractured.
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."
A Stiff-Necked People Ehud Barak, Prospect. "Israelis are a stiff-necked people," admits Ehud Barak in a farewell to electoral politics. But that is what it takes to survive in a tough neighborhood.
Chabad, the Corporation Maya Balakirsky Katz, Sh'ma. By not appointing a successor, the Rebbe sowed the seeds of Chabad's institutional transformation from a Hasidic dynasty to a successful religious corporation.
Cut-Flower Ethics and Jewish Culture David Wolpe, Weekly Standard. Amos Oz might imagine there is a large coterie of “atheists of the book,” waiting to be swept up in the vast sea of Jewish literature. But is this actually the case?