History
The Osirak PrecedentThursday, June 23, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In May 1981, eight Israeli fighter jets were on the runway waiting for the go-ahead to execute the most daring operation ever undertaken by the Israeli air force: flying more than 1,000 miles east over enemy territory to destroy Osirak, Iraq's nuclear reactor.
Hebrew SchoolWednesday, June 22, 2011 by Allan Arkush | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Samson Benderly, one might say, had crusading in his blood. A direct descendant of Jacob Emden, the zealous 18th-century European battler against Sabbateanism, he spent his youth in Palestine before coming to the United States in 1898 with the aim of becoming a physician.
Is Israel’s Labor Party Finished?Tuesday, June 21, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
What has become of Israel's left-wing Labor Party some five months after its leader, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, abruptly defected to establish his breakaway Atzmaut (Independence) Knesset faction?
The Tourist’s DilemmaMonday, June 20, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
On the southwest coast of Albania on the Ionian Sea, opposite the Greek island of Corfu, beneath the modern town of Saranda, lies the ancient city of Onchesmos. That ancient city had a synagogue.
Israelites in the Anglo-Saxon SeaFriday, June 17, 2011 by David Curzon | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Since it was first composed, there have been dozens—if not hundreds—of renderings of the Hebrew Bible. The process of translation and creative elaboration began during the first millennium B.C.E.
No Ford in Israel’s Future?Thursday, June 16, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
With little fanfare, the Ford Foundation has initiated a phased withdrawal from its long, largely behind-the-scenes campaign to influence Israeli politics.
Jesus for JewsWednesday, June 15, 2011 by Eve Levavi Feinstein | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
That Jesus lived and died a Jew would hardly be regarded as news by most educated Jews and Christians today. Still, while the historical Jesus is ever-elusive, the figure of Jesus, for Jews, has become more accessible.
Anti-Semitism and Man at YaleMonday, June 13, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The modern university is no longer made up simply of departments and regular professors teaching students. Ancillary centers, programs, and initiatives proliferate, undertaking research on every conceivable topic. The fates of such entities rarely make the New York Post. But anti-Semitism is not a normal subject.
To Ransom or Not to Ransom?Friday, June 10, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The PLO's first attack on Israel came when Mahmoud Hijazi and five other terrorists attempted to bomb a water-pump station in southern Israel. Once captured, Hijazi received the second death sentence ever handed down in Israel. Though his sentence was later overturned, the story was far from over.
The Forgotten FestivalMonday, June 6, 2011 by Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The holiday of Shavuot, which begins this year on Tuesday evening, is the orphan among Jewish holidays; it is the forgotten festival. Let me count the ways.
Editors' Picks
Eric Kandel's Visions Alexander C. Kafka, Chronicle of Higher Education. Why is the Nobel-winning neuroscientist who's spent most of his career fixated on sea snails writing on art history? It may have a lot to do with his background as a Viennese Jew . . .
Together We Stand Bernard-Henri Lévy, Haaretz. In the wake of the murders in Toulouse, all of France must stand united against anti-Semitism, which is an attack on the republican ideals which all of France holds dear.
False Memories of the Crusader States Peter Frankopan, Jerusalem Post. Take heed, Israel: where things went wrong for the Crusaders was not in the long-distance messaging to core supporters, but in the muddling of that message among neighbors and near-neighbors.
Found in Israel Avigayil Kadesh, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Every day, the Israel Antiquities Authority has 30 active archeological digs. Here, a list of the past 25 years' most notable. (With a glaring omission.)
Boom or Bust? Peter Thiel, George Gilder, Intercollegiate Studies Institute. In a debate, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel argues that technological progress is decelerating, while author George Gilder says that progress marches ever onward—with Israel as a case in point. (Video)
Saved to Disc Matti Friedman, Times of Israel. A rare glass disc depicting the menorah from the Second Temple in gold leaf was kicked around Europe for two thousand years before the Israel Museum gave it a home.
The Limits of Justice Jerusalem Post. Although concentration camp guard John Demjanjuk died a free man, his conviction by the German courts as an accessory to murder shows how others can be brought to justice.
Building Bauhaus Elizabeth Zach, New York Times. As the Bauhaus school of architecture fell afoul of Nazi aesthetic diktats, its adherents were left looking for new pastures in which to build—and many found them in Mandate Palestine.
Nesting Dolls Alina Dain Sharon, Jewish Journal. Twenty years after their Russian exodus, the lives of Jews who emigrated to the U.S., Israel, and Germany differ markedly from those who stayed in Russia.
Proxy War Jonathan Schanzer, Foreign Policy. Although Israelis have come to expect rocket attacks from Gaza, this time the perpetrators are not Hamas agents but Iranian proxies. And however the conflict develops, Tehran will come out on top.