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German Jews


Life Goes On Life Goes On
Monday, February 4, 2013 by Jonathan Gondelman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Life Goes On, by German-Jewish novelist Hans Keilson, had been forgotten since the Nazis banned it in 1934.  Now, a year after Keilson's death, it has been translated into English.
From Reparations to Atonement From Reparations to Atonement
Monday, January 28, 2013 by Ismar Schorsch | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Where recognition of the Holocaust was once restricted to the office of the Chancellor, there is a grassroots commitment in today's Germany to take ownership of the past.
Self-Hatred or Self-Help? Self-Hatred or Self-Help?
Thursday, November 15, 2012 by Ben Cohen | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

One of the most insightful scenes from Larry David's comedy series, Curb Your Enthusiasm, begins with David and his on-air wife, Cheryl, standing at the entrance to a movie theater.  As they chatter aimlessly, David starts whistling a tune composed by Richard Wagner.
Reform of Tradition, Tradition of Reform Reform of Tradition, Tradition of Reform
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 by Moshe Sokolow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Max Lilienthal’s life provides a lens through which we watch American Judaism, Reform Judaism in particular, struggle with the consequences of its own idiosyncratic condition.
Hans Bethe and the Problem of “Jewish Genius” Hans Bethe and the Problem of “Jewish Genius”
Monday, October 15, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Few topics make Jews more uncomfortable than the question of “Jewish genius.”  While Jews happily point to the extraordinary scientific accomplishments of their co-religionists, discussion of the genetic or cultural basis of these achievements causes squirming and denials.
Adorno, Butler, and the Death of Irony Adorno, Butler, and the Death of Irony
Friday, September 28, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

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.
Story Master from Ashkenaz Story Master from Ashkenaz
Wednesday, September 19, 2012 by Moshe Simon-Shoshan | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

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.
Editors' Picks
Jew in a Box Benjamin Weinthal, Foreign Policy. Is an exhibit at Berlin's Jewish Museum featuring a Jew sitting in a glass box, to answer visitors' questions, useful pedagogy, or "pathetic and useless"?
Martin Buber and the Holocaust Richard L. Rubenstein, New English Review. Martin Buber was the preeminent Jewish thinker of his generation and the intellectual leader of German Jewry during its darkest hour. So why does his theology ignore the Holocaust?