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American Zionism


Brandeis and Zionism, In and Out of Love Brandeis and Zionism, In and Out of Love
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 by Evan Moffic | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

The Supreme Court is once again poised to define the role of government in American society; and Louis D. Brandeis, the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice, would have recognized the terms of the debate.
The Jewish Left, between History and Revelation The Jewish Left, between History and Revelation
Monday, June 11, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

The association of Jews with leftist ideas and movements has been a fixture of Western politics for the past 150 years. But is the relationship logical and necessary, or is it historical and contingent?
The Case of American Religious Zionism The Case of American Religious Zionism
Thursday, May 10, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Few things divide and provoke American Jews like the question of Zionism. Though many wish to remember otherwise, this was also the case before the founding of Israel in 1948.
The Move that Dare Not Speak Its Name The Move that Dare Not Speak Its Name
Monday, April 30, 2012 by Yehudah Mirsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Recent years have seen a flurry of reports, studies, and worried discussions about strengthening Diaspora Jewry's ties to Israel. But what about strengthening the ties to Israel—or, for that matter, to the Diaspora—of the growing numbers of Israelis who live abroad?
Going the Distance Going the Distance
Friday, April 27, 2012 by Yehudah Mirsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Israel is a nation-state. In contrast, Diaspora Jewry—in particular, American Jewry—is a network of voluntary communities, constituting not just different structures but different life-worlds. While it is usually taken for granted that nation-states and their respective diasporas will grow apart, with Jews the issue is hotly debated.
The Education of a “Wise Man” The Education of a “Wise Man”
Friday, April 20, 2012 by Allan Arkush | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Eddie Jacobson was once a folk hero among American Jews, and even today he is far from forgotten. In their authoritative book A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel, Allis and Ronald Radosh tell how Truman's old business partner did his part to bring Israel into existence.
A Real Titanic Love Story A Real Titanic Love Story
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 by Philip Getz | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

One hundred years ago today, the RMS Carpathia pulled into New York's Pier 54 carrying 705 survivors of the Titanic disaster. Most of the survivors were women and children from first class. But Ida Straus, one of the wealthiest and possibly one of the oldest women on board, was not among them.
Reading between the Lists Reading between the Lists
Wednesday, April 4, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

As long as humans have been writing, humans have been making lists and ranking things. The new Daily Beast/Newsweek list of "America's Top 50 Rabbis for 2012" is, like most American lists, whether of rabbis, cars, or colleges, designed to shape reality as much as reflect it.
Peter Beinart, I Quit. Peter Beinart, I Quit.
Monday, April 2, 2012 by Yoel Finkelman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Peter Beinart's new blog on the Daily Beast titled Open Zion (formerly Zion Square) is dedicated to an "open and unafraid conversation about Israel, Palestine, and the Jewish future."  But after several weeks of Open Zion, one writer has concluded that its conversation is not, in fact, open—and is not one in which he can continue to take part. Here, he resigns his position. 
Scholarship and Anti-Semitism at Yale Scholarship and Anti-Semitism at Yale
Monday, March 26, 2012 by Ben Cohen | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Almost a year has passed since Yale University shuttered the five-year-old Yale Interdisciplinary Initiative for the Study of Anti-Semitism, known by the unwieldy acronym "YIISA," and replaced it with the Yale Program for the Study of Anti-Semitism, or "YPSA."
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Editors' Picks
Ignore Anti-Semitism: Bernstein’s Rules David Bernstein, Forward. Has a fringe group announced an anti-Israel demonstration on campus? Odds are that it’s Israeli and Jewish sources who will give them the publicity they want.
A Minority within a Minority Ron Kampeas, JTA. Amid the large contingent of liberal Jews with influence in Washington, the Orthodox Union’s liaison, Nathan Diament, offers the President a different perspective.
The Fourth of July and the Jews Joseph Michelson, JWeekly. “So, what is so unusual about our sojourn with America? It is, in terms of historical significance, perhaps the most beneficent, generous, and happy marriage we, as a people, have ever had!”
Johnny Cash's Christian Zionism David Brinn, Jerusalem Post. June Carter Cash "had a dream in which Johnny was preaching to the multitudes at the Sea of Galilee, and she was intent on seeing him do it for real."
Fleshpots and Ice Cream Pints Elli Fischer, Times of Israel. From olim, one hears an American—or is it an atavistic?—yearning for quality and convenience.     
The Ten Commandments of America's Jews Jack Wertheimer, Commentary. Go ahead and break the current tablets—here are the new shalls and shall nots.
American Hebrew Poetry? Jerome Chanes, Forward. One of the best-kept secrets of Jewish American history is the creation of an indigenous Hebrew poetry in the first half of the 20th century.
Debate: Zionism and American Jews Peter Beinart, Daniel Gordis, Tablet/The Current. The proposition: Zionism is failing and American Jews are hastening its decline. (Video)
The Eternal Return Lazar Berman, Uri Sadot, Commentary. The relationship between the United States and Israel is fracturing. The president is pressuring the Jewish state to make painful concessions in return for vague agreements.  Israeli leaders worry that the support of a formerly reliable constituency—American Jews—is slipping away.The year is 1975.
Learn Hebrew! David Hazony, Forward. The cultural gulf between Israel and the Diaspora can be bridged—but only if American Jews decide they want to bridge it.