People & Places
Thankless in Turtle BayFriday, February 18, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
After more than six months of internal squabbling, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Israel Beitenu) have, at last, agreed to dispatch the seasoned diplomat Ron Prosor as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations. But what, realistically, can any Israeli ambassador hope to achieve at the UN?
The Riddle of the SatmarThursday, February 17, 2011 by Allan Nadler | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
A prospect terrifying to secular Israelis and Zionists worldwide has been the rapid growth of the Jewish state's ultra-Orthodox (haredi) community. Given the stranglehold of haredi political parties on recent coalition governments, and the encroachments by non-Zionist haredi clerics upon Israel's chief rabbinate, once religiously moderate and firmly Zionist, the fear is not entirely irrational.
The Tribes SpeakWednesday, February 16, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Unrest is spreading in the Middle East, but everywhere it displays a unique character. Take Jordan. In an unprecedented public letter to King Abdullah II, thirty-six of the country's tribal leaders have warned that "Jordan will sooner or later be the target of an uprising similar to the ones in Tunisia and Egypt."
Skeletons in the Closet of HasidismFriday, February 11, 2011 by Lawrence Grossman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Popular demands for transparency in our institutions and the availability of technological means to achieve it have made it hard to keep secrets. This has affected the conduct not only of government and business but also of religion.
The Old New JewsWednesday, February 9, 2011 by Yehudah Mirsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
It has been 40 years since the publication of a slim but memorable volume of essays by young American Jewish radicals and intellectuals. The New Jews, edited by James Sleeper and Alan Mintz, sought to give voice to a small cohort at once deeply alienated from organized Jewish life and deeply attached to Jewish history and culture.
Qatar’s GameTuesday, February 8, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
On the map of the Middle East, it is easy to overlook the peninsular state of Qatar, bordering Saudi Arabia and jutting into the Persian Gulf opposite Iran. Yet, as the dominant exporter of liquefied natural gas, it is one of the world's wealthiest countries. Nor is it easy to pigeonhole.
The Pharaoh’s General, and Mubarak’sMonday, February 7, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The general was a commoner. He rose through the ranks as a career soldier, attracting attention for his prowess and dedication. Becoming a soldier-diplomat, he fought Egypt's battles, negotiated with troublesome neighbors, and served several kings in succession.
Who is Uri Avnery, and Why Does He Matter?Friday, February 4, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Jerusalem's decision in the early 1990's to admit Yasir Arafat and his fellow thugs into the heart of the land of Israel proved to be one of the country's major political blunders, paid for in the coin of a five-year terror war that traumatized Israeli society and transformed the dream of Israeli-Palestinian peace into an extended nightmare. How did it happen?
Calling David Ben-GurionThursday, February 3, 2011 by Yehudah Mirsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Times like these tend to remind us what a rare thing is great statesmanship. How many leaders are capable of wedding long-term vision with the nuts and bolts of politics and institutions, let alone an understanding of great historical forces with the will to shape them and the wisdom to know the will's limits?
Cyrus, Ahmadinejad, and the Politics of PurimTuesday, February 1, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Anyone who deplores the politicization of the past should have been apoplectic in September 2010 at the sight of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad receiving the loan of the "Cyrus Cylinder" from officials of the British Museum.
Editors' Picks
A Delicate Balance Oded Haklai, Jerusalem Post. Israel's Arabs are regarded as victims by the Left and a fifth column by the Right. In fact they play the system like any other group, and the state must allow them to do so.
From Slovakia to Flatbush Binyamin Rose, Voz Iz Neias?. The busiest synagogue in Flatbush traces its roots to a bunker in rural Slovakia, where its founder, Yechezkel Shraga Landau, led a community in hiding during the war.
Analyzing Iran's Attacks Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz. This week's attacks by Iran's proxies on Israeli diplomats in India, Georgia, and Thailand have been strategically located in countries with which Israel is building diplomatic and military ties.
School Ties Jason Diamond, Tablet. The only thing hidden in the resurgence of the quintessentially WASPy American look is a sense of its Jewish roots.
Abdullah's Apartheid Mudar Zahran, Jerusalem Post. Why Jordan's king is worried about the Arab Spring making its way to his doorstep.
The Frozen Chosen Yereth Rosen, Moment. Roosevelt's plan to resettle Jewish refugees in Alaska came to nothing, as locals doubted that the newcomers could adapt. But unbeknownst to them, Jews had been among Alaska's pioneers.
Publicity Windfalls David Bernstein, JTA. On most American campuses, anti-Israel campaigns usually fail. But now well-meaning opposition from pro-Israel groups is giving them the publicity they need to succeed.
The Jews Who Fight Back Ezra Glinter, Bookforum. For decades, Chabad struggled to maintain its enclave in a predominantly black neighborhood while keeping control over its own internal frictions. Now, it may have to recalibrate that defensive stance.
America, Israel, and the Future of Liberal Democracy Leon Wieseltier, Yuval Levin, Tikvah Fund. Israel has a very different political tradition from the United States, yet both countries' systems are showing signs of strain. Does liberal democracy have a future? (Video)
Another Trial for Shylock Stephen Marche, New York Times. Recent opposition to a London production of the Merchant of Venice in Hebrew shows that once again, Shylock has come to stand for the entire Jewish people.