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Events


At Last, Zion At Last, Zion
Friday, September 21, 2012 by Charles Krauthammer | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

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.
Conferences: Why? Conferences: Why?
Thursday, July 19, 2012 by Elli Fischer | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

As Israelis take in the collapse of Netanyahu’s grand coalition, ultra-Orthodox demonstrations in Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv tent protesters' lionization of an attempted suicide, it may have escaped general attention that none of these problems featured among the prophetic visions of last month’s Presidential Conference, which charged itself with “Facing Tomorrow.”
Disturbing the Universe Disturbing the Universe
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 by Daniel C. Matt | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Today, in an exclusive preview from the new issue of the Jewish Review of Books, preeminent Kabbalah scholar Daniel Matt steps away from his Zohar translation for the first time in years to review Lawrence Krauss's New Atheist account of the Big Bang and Alan Lightman's quirky novel about creation. Special to Jewish Ideas Daily readers: Click here to receive a free copy of the whole summer issue!
The Six-Day War: Day Six The Six-Day War: Day Six
Sunday, June 10, 2012 by | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

After five days spent battling Arab forces, Israel now faced a new opponent: time. With the Egyptians and Jordanians out of the war, and the Syrians having agreed to a ceasefire, the Security Council was becoming restless.
The Six-Day War: Day Five The Six-Day War: Day Five
Saturday, June 9, 2012 by | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Once Dayan decided against a limited attack in the Golan and opted instead to take the entire Heights, Israel's air force pounded the Syrians.  The Syrians had supposed the Israelis to be tired and intimidated by their incessant shelling . . . 
Day Four: <i>“Attack! Attack!”</i> Day Four: “Attack! Attack!”
Friday, June 8, 2012 by Allan Arkush | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

On June 1, 1967, when Prime Minister Levi Eshkol yielded to public pressure and turned over the portfolio of defense minister to former IDF chief of staff Moshe Dayan, the mood in Israel changed overnight.
The Six-Day War: Day Two The Six-Day War: Day Two
Wednesday, June 6, 2012 by | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

On June 6th, 1967, by 8:00 a.m. Tel Aviv time, Israeli forces had entered el-Arish. It initially seemed desolate, but the Israelis were soon under fire from every window. Israel's leadership, not expecting the war to move so quickly, had not considered what do to beyond el-Arish.
On the Eve of the Six-Day War On the Eve of the Six-Day War
Monday, June 4, 2012 by | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Forty-five years ago today, on June 4, 1967, Israel and the Jewish world were in suspense. Today, we recall the Six-Day War as a stunning martial victory by the Jewish state; but on the war's eve, this outcome was wholly unforeseeable. Indeed, the odds appeared firmly stacked against Israel.
Aquarius in Zion Aquarius in Zion
Thursday, 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.
Gershom Scholem, 30 Years On Gershom Scholem, 30 Years On
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 by Yehudah Mirsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Thirty years after his death at age 84, Gershom Scholem casts a long shadow. The field he created, the modern study of Jewish mysticism, has grown beyond him, yet his work remains the indispensable foundation.
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Editors' Picks
The Jewish Vote, Then and Now Rafael Medoff, Jewish Press. In early 1948, the Truman administration was retreating from the UN plan to create Israel—until Jewish voters in the Bronx defeated the Democrats’ candidate for congress.
Israel, America, and the Lessons of 9/11 Abe Greenwald, Jewish Ideas Daily. A reminder: After September 11, America placed long-term foreign policy bets on democracy in the Middle East.  But for Israel, there is no such thing as long-term foreign policy.
Two Rabbis, Two Philosophies Daniel Treiman, Times of Israel. At the recent political conventions, Rabbi David Wolpe and Rabbi Meir Soloveichik each spoke powerfully to the contrasting political ideologies of the parties that they were addressing.
Elephant in the Room Gil Shefler, Jerusalem Post. Israel's Presidential Conference hosted discussions about the Jewish future with representatives of all Jewish denominations—or, all except Judaism's fastest-growing demographic.
Can a Small Country Have a Big Heart? Shmuel Rosner, New York Times. Searches and arrests, erecting of border fences, bolstering of guard units, kicking out poor migrants—all these scenes will now become a chapter in Jewish history. Israel has no other choice.
Memories of the Machalniks Andrew Esensten, Haaretz. Praised by Ben-Gurion as the Diaspora's most important contribution to the nascent state, the overseas volunteers in the War of Independence finally have an exhibit in their honor.
Wagner the Dog Jonathan S. Tobin, Contentions. What does it say about Jewish sensibilities that a month after Tel Aviv University hosted a "Nakba Day" commemoration, it judged a concert of Wagner's music to be beyond the pale?
Liberty and Espionage Jerusalem Post. The indicted Haaretz reporter Uri Blau is no martyr.  There is plenty of scope for journalists to ply their trade without putting themselves above the law and endangering the entire populace.     
Dolphins from Deutschland Ronen Bergman, Spiegel. Angela Merkel thought Israel was going to freeze settlements in return for getting German nuclear-capable submarines. There's been no freeze, but Germany is sending the subs anyway.
Eighteenth-Century Aliyah Fred MacDowell, On the Main Line. Two hundred years before modern Zionism, Jews across the Russian empire funded Rabbi Judah Chassid and his 120 followers on their trek from Europe to a new life in the Promised Land.