Article Archives

In Defense of the Nation-State

Daniel Gordis wants you to know that if you want tolerance, diversity and freedom, you should work for Zionism.  In his new book, Gordis weaves the work of political theorists and historians into a compelling case for the nation-state in general and Israel in particular.

Krav Maga

The year was 1987 when the Intifada started.  Just after few months after I had joined a Jerusalem judo club, our instructor told us he was going to make a change in our practice sessions: we would now divide our classes between judo and krav maga.

The Egyptian Jewish Remnant, Against Israel

CAIRO: At this upscale Cairo café, Sam and Amira, brother and sister, are the last two who would be seen as Jewish.

Adorno, Butler, and the Death of Irony

Irony cannot exist in isolation; something is ironic only in relation to a larger pattern of events or behavior. Every three years, the city of Frankfurt awards its Adorno Prize to honor scholarly achievement in philosophy, music, film, and theater.

The Jewish Vote, 2012

The Jewish vote, once pivotal in American politics, is still important, though not as much as it was seven decades ago.  Back in the 1940s, Jews cast four percent of the votes in America, twice the percentage they do today.  And they cast a much larger share in the state of New York. 

Happy Yom Kippur to You?

"Happy" is certainly not the first word that comes to mind for most of us when we describe our Yom Kippur experience.  After all, the Torah commands us to afflict ourselves on this day (Leviticus 23:26-31).

Teshuvah: Progress or Return?

While in theory the blowing of the High Holiday shofar should be enough to “awaken us from our slumber” and move us to repentance, in practice most people need to look to other sources to enable them to rethink the way they live or their understanding of repentance itself.

At Last, Zion

Milan Kundera once defined a small nation as "one whose very existence may be put in question at any moment; a small nation can disappear, and it knows it."  Israel is a small country. This is not to say that extinction is its fate. Only that it can be.

“I, and Not an Angel”

"Warning: The Following Prayer May Be Dangerous to Your Spiritual Health.  Recite with Caution."  When was the last time you saw this kind of warning in a prayer book? Yet in most Ashkenazic S’lihot prayer books, that is the message that actually accompanies one of the hymns.

Story Master from Ashkenaz

Today, the use of literary theory and criticism to study Midrash and Aggadah—non-legal and interpretive rabbinic literature—is a well-established and even popular endeavor.