Jewish Ideas Daily - All Items

Good Girl Gone Bad

Margot Lurie — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:29 EDT

Among the highlights from our archives is this reflection on Herman Wouk's "plucky, unlucky" heroine Marjorie Morningstar by former editor Margot Lurie, first published October 18, 2010.

Fallen Soldier

Joseph Berger — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:05 EDT

Boruch Spiegel, who was one of the last survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, escaped the Nazis via the sewers, only to return to the city to fight with Polish partisans a year later.

Israel's Interests in Syria

Efraim Inbar — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:04 EDT

"Israel would be better served by having a failed state next door than by having a strong, Iranian-backed entity there."

Another Crime of Passion

Larry Poland — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:03 EDT

Most of the Jewish characters in the History Channel's The Bible look like "imports from Texas." But Caiaphas and company are made to appear distinctively Jewish.

Archeology on the Battlefield

Jesse Casana — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:02 EDT

From the Iraqi Revolt of 1920 to the upheavals of the Arab Spring, war and revolution have dictated the focus of archeological research in the Arab and Muslim Middle East.

Beef with the Butcher

Nic Cavell — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:01 EDT

In 1902, working-class Jewish women in New York rioted to enforce a boycott against price-gouging kosher butchers. A new "street musical" dramatizes their battle.

Anti-Semitism and Man at Yale

Alex Joffe — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:48 EDT

Continuing our retrospective, we revisit Alex Joffe's critique of the unwillingness of Western universities to confront contemporary anti-Semitism, first published June 13, 2011.

Listening to Israel's Arabs

Alexander Yakobson — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:05 EDT

The claim that the Arab citizens of Israel are essentially and fundamentally alienated from the state is plain wrong.

Ghosts of Scandals Past

Rafael Medoff — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:04 EDT

Seventy years ago, FDR used the IRS to target a group lobbying for the rescue of Jews from Nazi Germany; but Roosevelt's investigators ended up as sympathizers.

What Happened on the Temple Mount?

Noah Wiener — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:03 EDT

Carbon tests suggest that wooden beams removed from the al-Aqsa Mosque may have originated in the Temple built by King Herod.

Restoring the Grand Gesture

Naftali Brawer — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:02 EDT

Whatever happened to the worship of God through a spontaneous outpouring of the soul?

Go West, Young Man

Jeremy Gillick — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:01 EDT

Joining the Californian gold rush in the 1850s, Jews discovered a land with no established hierarchy, no significant anti-Semitism—and no rabbis.

The Moral Costs of Jewish Day School

Aryeh Klapper — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:38 EDT

As Jewish Ideas Daily nears its re-launch, we look back at some of our highlights over the last three-and-a-half years—beginning with Aryeh Klapper's day-school proposal, first published May 14, 2012.

Hanging in the Balance

Lee Smith — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:05 EDT

Facing hostile actors on nearly every border, Israel aims to preserve the regional balance of power—a task made all the more delicate by American indifference.

Fatah’s Two Faces

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:04 EDT

On Nakba Day, Mahmoud Abbas endorses a two-state solution even as his party refuses to recognize the Jewish state and claims a right, which “never expires,” of return to Israeli land.

The Post-Yeshiva Synagogue

Yonatan Kaganoff — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:03 EDT

In American Orthodoxy, a fair number of synagogues have shifted from being places for whole families to gather to becoming places for men to pray and, especially, to study.

Discovering Gush Halav

Aviva Bar-Am — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:02 EDT

Despite centuries of persecution, Galilee-based Christian followers of a hermit named Mar Maroun have refused to abandon their faith. Sound familiar?

Could the Holy Ghost be Jewish?

Philologos — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:01 EDT

The roots of a quintessential Christian concept trace back to the Hebrew Bible.

Rousseau, Melody, and Mode

Ben Elton — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:48 EDT

Though best remembered today for his political philosophy, Jean-Jacques Rousseau was also a careful student of music. But his conclusions are undermined by the liturgical music of Ashkenazi Jews.

Boycotting the Boycott

Charlie Laderman — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:05 EDT

Instead of "respecting” the boycott, Spanish novelist Antonio Munoz Molina accepted the Jerusalem prize saying, "there is in Israel a society that is alive, democratic, pluralistic and open, in which I can recognize myself as a citizen."