People & Places
Montreal, a Love StoryTuesday, June 28, 2011 by Allan Nadler | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The second International Yiddish Theater Festival, an elaborate ten-day fete whose program ranges from carnavalesque performances to academic symposia, just wrapped up last week in Montreal. What is especially surprising about this celebration is that Montreal is a city with a Jewish population of less than 80,000.
One Woman ArmyMonday, June 27, 2011 by Daniel Johnson | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Andrei Sakharov, the great nuclear physicist and human-rights campaigner, had been dead for two years by the time I came to his Moscow apartment in the early summer of 1991. Elena Bonner, his widow, was there, still defiantly at war with the faceless foe that had slaughtered her family, exiled her and her husband, slandered her Jewish name, and lied about it all.
Following the Strong HorseFriday, June 24, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
A Druse physician from the Golan Heights, who works at an Israeli hospital, was one of 24 members of his community arrested for pummeling IDF troops with rocks during so-called Naksa Day protests. Just where do Druse loyalties lie?
The Osirak PrecedentThursday, June 23, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In May 1981, eight Israeli fighter jets were on the runway waiting for the go-ahead to execute the most daring operation ever undertaken by the Israeli air force: flying more than 1,000 miles east over enemy territory to destroy Osirak, Iraq's nuclear reactor.
Hebrew SchoolWednesday, June 22, 2011 by Allan Arkush | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Samson Benderly, one might say, had crusading in his blood. A direct descendant of Jacob Emden, the zealous 18th-century European battler against Sabbateanism, he spent his youth in Palestine before coming to the United States in 1898 with the aim of becoming a physician.
Is Israel’s Labor Party Finished?Tuesday, June 21, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
What has become of Israel's left-wing Labor Party some five months after its leader, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, abruptly defected to establish his breakaway Atzmaut (Independence) Knesset faction?
The Tourist’s DilemmaMonday, June 20, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
On the southwest coast of Albania on the Ionian Sea, opposite the Greek island of Corfu, beneath the modern town of Saranda, lies the ancient city of Onchesmos. That ancient city had a synagogue.
No Ford in Israel’s Future?Thursday, June 16, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
With little fanfare, the Ford Foundation has initiated a phased withdrawal from its long, largely behind-the-scenes campaign to influence Israeli politics.
Jesus for JewsWednesday, June 15, 2011 by Eve Levavi Feinstein | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
That Jesus lived and died a Jew would hardly be regarded as news by most educated Jews and Christians today. Still, while the historical Jesus is ever-elusive, the figure of Jesus, for Jews, has become more accessible.
Love, True Love, and StatisticsTuesday, June 14, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The depth of sympathy for the Jewish state among ordinary Americans ought to be cause for positive amazement. In stark contrast to strikingly negative European attitudes, a far-reaching CNN poll released on May 31 presents an uplifting picture of American public opinion toward Israel.
Editors' Picks
Europe's Rising Tide Anti-Defamation League. Classical anti-Semitic attitudes are not only widespread across Europe but have risen significantly since 2009 in traditionally more tolerant countries, such as Britain and France.
Toeing the Church-State Line Julie Wiener, Jewish Week. Hebrew charter schools offer the chance to educate large numbers of American Jewish children in Hebrew and Israeli culture—at taxpayers' expense—and thus are making many inside and outside the Jewish world nervous.
Nowruz Peres? Shimon Peres, YouTube. On the Iranian new year, Israel's president appealed to the Iranian people to oppose the bellicose ambitions of their government, and warned them of the consequences if they do not. (Video)
Diaspora Divided (Sneak Preview of JRB Spring Issue!) Jordan Chandler Hirsch, Jewish Review of Books. Peter Beinart tries to show how one-dimensional support for Israel is alienating young liberal Jews. The trouble is that his own one-dimensional criticism of Israel alienates everyone else.
Boom or Bust? Peter Thiel, George Gilder, Intercollegiate Studies Institute. In a debate, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel argues that technological progress is decelerating, while author George Gilder says that progress marches ever onward—with Israel as a case in point. (Video)
Saved to Disc Matti Friedman, Times of Israel. A rare glass disc depicting the menorah from the Second Temple in gold leaf was kicked around Europe for two thousand years before the Israel Museum gave it a home.
The Limits of Justice Jerusalem Post. Although concentration camp guard John Demjanjuk died a free man, his conviction by the German courts as an accessory to murder shows how others can be brought to justice.
Higher Standards Douglas Murray, Jewish Chronicle. Israel's defenders often rebut criticism by contrasting its conduct with that of its authoritarian neighbors. But even when the metric is the conduct of other democracies, Israel fares well.
Reading Weak Liel Leibovitz, Tablet. The People of the Book recognized the importance of a shared canon long ago. But we've foolishly squandered that birthright for the mess of pottage that is identity politics and cheap opinions.
Wishful Thinking Walter Laqueur, World Affairs. From the European Union to the Arab Spring, predictions of a bright future have been confounded by sober reality. Yet still few are prepared to listen to the prophets of gloom.