Article Archives

The Jewish Vote, Once and Future

This Election Day reminds us, yet again, of the paradox of the “Jewish vote” in American politics.  Here is a series of varied snapshots of the Jewish vote as it has looked to different writers for Jewish Ideas Daily over the past two years.

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.

Did Red Bull Stratos Break a Halakhic Barrier?

Not long ago, much of the world watched as Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner jumped to earth in a record-setting free fall that broke the sound barrier.

A Jewish View of Hurricanes

With school closed, transportation suspended, and the local park off limits, I cast about for something other than “work” to fill the day.  My thoughts turned to the weather, and I asked myself whether Judaism has anything instructive to say about hurricanes.

Max Lilienthal’s Aborted Return

In Bruce L. Ruben’s new biography Max Lilienthal: The Making of the American Rabbinate, about one of the pioneers of the American Reform movement, I was surprised to learn that Lilienthal almost made a second trip to Tsarist Russia.

Art and Idolatry in Austria

Art transforms life through beauty but inspires a possessiveness unlike any other.  Collectors tend toward obsession, which overwhelms morality; museums, like the medieval church, wash away sin with exhibitions for the public good.

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.” 

Whose Akedah Was It, Anyhow?

Today, October 26, 2012, the world’s Muslims will celebrate `Id al-Adha, commemorating Abraham’s willingness to demonstrate his love of God by sacrificing his son.  While most Muslims assume that the son Abraham intended to sacrifice was Ishmael, this was not the unanimous opinion of early Muslims and Qur’anic scholars.

Promises, Promises

City of Promises, a new three-volume history of Jewish New York, is remarkable for the complex metamorphoses it explains—and for the 21st century transformation it doesn't mention.

The Portuguese Dreyfus

In 1894, the Jewish Captain Alfred Dreyfus was wrongly convicted of treason by an anti-Semitic French military court.  The world remembers Dreyfus.  It should also remember the Jewish military officer Artur Carlos de Barros Basto, wrongly convicted by an anti-Semitic Portuguese military court in 1937.