Religion in Israel
Religion and State in IsraelWednesday, July 3, 2013 by Moshe Koppel | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
I want to make an argument for limiting the role of the Israeli state in maintaining Jewish institutions. I do so, however, as one who wishes to see an expansion of the influence of traditional Judaism in the Israeli public square. Read in full on Mosaic.
Christianity: Good for the Jews?Friday, May 24, 2013 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
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 Black-Hat UndergroundMonday, May 6, 2013 by Yoel Finkelman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The likely closure of Aderaba, the magazine by, for, and about frustrated Israeli ba’alei teshuvah, demonstrates that the mainstream haredi community is too great to overcome—for now.
Yair Lapid’s ReligionTuesday, February 19, 2013 by Elli Fischer | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In a speech to haredi students last year, Yair Lapid advocated a shared public sphere in Israel that is neutral on questions of religion. Does he now have the chance to implement his vision?
The Daily Page: A “Siyum”-posiumThursday, August 2, 2012 by Jacob J. Schacter, Yoel Finkelman, Michael Carasik, Tzvi H. Weinreb, Devora Steinmetz, Moshe Sokolow, Yehudah Mirsky, Mark Gottlieb, David Glasner, Aryeh Tepper, Marc B. Shapiro, Gil Student, Emanuel Feldman, Alon Shalev, Viva Hammer, Shlomo Zuckier, and Saul J. Berman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
UPDATE: New posts as of 8/3/12, 1:11 a.m.
Rav Elyashiv’s Mixed LegacyTuesday, July 24, 2012 by Yoel Finkelman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Last Wednesday night, in the middle of a blazing heat wave, a quarter of a million people flocked to the funeral of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. At the request of the deceased, no eulogies were delivered, but for the rest of the week, the Haredi press spoke of little other than the man.
Text-Message HalakhahFriday, July 13, 2012 by Yoel Finkelman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
From the ancient moment when the Sages began committing the Oral Torah to writing, through the invention of the printing press, all the way to searchable electronic databases of Jewish texts, each change in communications technology has had an impact on the Torah.
The Last Holy RebelThursday, June 21, 2012 by Yehudah Mirsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Some years ago, a friend asked what I thought was the more impressive title: "Rabbi," "Doctor," or (the often unwittingly self-parodying) "Rabbi Dr." You know, I said, there's a man in Israel who's one of the most impressive talmidei hakhamim I've ever known—and he's not "Rabbi" or "Doctor."
Aquarius in ZionThursday, May 17, 2012 by Yehudah Mirsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In the great crazy quilt of Israeli religious and spiritual life, the cluster of ideas and practices called "New Age" (in Hebrew, 'Idan Hadash) is increasingly visible. Love it or hate it, it's around, in books, festivals, newspapers, the pronouncements of tycoons, and growing networks of popular Kabbalah.
A Room of Their OwnTuesday, April 24, 2012 by Yoel Finkelman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The editors of B'hadrei Haredim, a website whose name could be loosely translated as Haredi "private rooms," are supposed to be the good guys—the people who are leading the Haredi community in new and positive directions. These are the individuals who turned a tiny chat room into a major news site.
Editors' Picks
Prolonging the Inevitable Natan Slifkin, Rationalist Judaism. Private donations to the haredi kollel system in Israel help to ensure that haredi men never acquire the skills they will need when they are forced to enter the workforce.
Divorcing the Rabbinate from Marriage Israel Drazin, Jewish Ideas and Ideals. Israel's "state-backed Orthodox rabbinic court monopoly must be disbanded and replaced by a rich and vibrant mosaic of voluntary rabbinic courts," argues a new book.
The Rav and the Rabbinate Jeffrey Saks, Jerusalem Post. Asked why he had considered, and rejected, standing to be Israel's chief rabbi, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik explained: "In my great naiveté, I dreamed of being able to democratize the rabbinate in Israel."
How Powerful Are the Chief Rabbis? Haviv Rettig Gur, Times of Israel. Foreign Policy may believe Israel's chief rabbis number among the world's 500 most powerful people, but "there are certainly more influential rabbis in the Jewish world—and even in Israel."
God's New Home Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Cardozo Academy. "Synagogues are no longer His primary residence. He is moving in with the young people who have a sense that He is there but cannot yet find Him."
Secularizing Israel Guy Ben-Porat, Moment. Since the early 1990s, secular Israelis have gained new freedoms from religious authority—even as the country has become more religious.
On Israel's Jewish Future Ruth Gavison, Tikvah Fund. "The real debate in Israel now is not whether to extend the existing religious Orthodox monopoly but whether to keep it at all."
Saving Israel's Chief Rabbinate Dov S. Zakheim, Jewish Ideas and Ideals. After retiring as Israel's Sephardi chief rabbi in 2003, Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron set out a plan to end the chief rabbinate's hegemonic control over marriage. Now it is time to implement it.
Israel, the Wilsonian Democracy Gil Troy, Daily Beast. When people ask whether Israel can be both Jewish and democratic, they usually imply that such a combination cannot exist. Woodrow Wilson would have emphatically disagreed.
Mimouna: Gold and Leavened Bread Ari Enkin, Hirhurim. The traditional post-Pesach celebration by Moroccan Jews may commemorate Maimonides’ father—or the Egyptian gold that washed up on the shore of the Red Sea.