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Israeli Culture


Beyond the Giants Beyond the Giants
Friday, May 10, 2013 by Robert Nicholson | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Strange as it may sound, my idea of Israel did match reality.  I’ve never imagined it to be some spotless utopia where everybody knows your name.  It is a land haunted by terror and tragedy, fear and doubt.  And yet it’s the land where God has chosen to reveal Himself to man. 
Not-So-Young Adult Not-So-Young Adult
Thursday, April 25, 2013 by Diane Cole | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

With remarkable sensitivity and clarity, Israeli novelist Nava Semel portrays children in Mandate Palestine working as hard as they can to make sense of a post-Holocaust, pre-state limbo.
Shani Boianjiu and the Past and Present of Jewish Literature Shani Boianjiu and the Past and Present of Jewish Literature
Wednesday, March 20, 2013 by Melissa Weininger | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Israeli writer Shani Boianjiu's first novel, composed in English, is a rare contemporary addition to the Jewish tradition of transnational literature. 
Coming Home Coming Home
Thursday, March 7, 2013 by Ella Taylor | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

I’ve visited and lived in Israel since then, but mostly I’ve been in London and the United States.  By most measures, every city in which I’ve put down roots in is an easier place to live than just about anywhere in Israel.
Krav Maga Krav Maga
Thursday, October 4, 2012 by Joseph Isaac Lifshitz | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

The year was 1987 when the Intifada started.  Just after few months after I had joined a Jerusalem judo club, our instructor told us he was going to make a change in our practice sessions: we would now divide our classes between judo and krav maga.
Neologism and Nationalism Neologism and Nationalism
Thursday, August 30, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

There has never been agreement about Zionism.  Not only is the idea of Jewish nationalism controversial, the very word “Zionism” arouses unique passions, as a recent controversy highlights.
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.”
Editors' Picks
A Sephardic Agnon Daniel Bouskila, Jewish Journal. "Where are the wordplays of the Sephardic kabbalists, the homiletics of the Aleppo scholars, the halakhic terminology of Moroccan rabbis?" wondered author Haim Sabato. "Who will sketch their profiles, in their language?"
The Retrospective A B. Yehoshua, Jewish Fiction .net. "Do you no longer believe in a world of transcendence . . . so much so that you are mired in the mundane and the obvious?  For example, in the film Potatoes . . . your main characters eat lunch for 16 minutes." (Fiction)
The Storyteller’s Gift Robert Pinsky, New York Times. Retrospective, the new novel by Israeli writer A.B. Yehoshua, “undertakes to conjure nothing less than the enigmatic, irresistible majesty of the past that governs human action.”
Sing to the Lord A New Song Samuel Lewis, Musical Opinion. Israel not only punches above its weight in classical music, but has also cultivated a unique musical voice.
Found in Translation Yehuda Amichai, New Republic. Robert Alter's new translations of a selection of Yehuda Amichai's poems breathe fresh life into the work of one of Israel's literary giants.
Israel's Shifting Demographics Yoram Ettinger, Israel Hayom. Israel's Jewish population surges and fertility rates across the Arab world collapse.  It seems Jews won't become a minority between the Jordan and the Mediterranean anytime soon. 
The Haredi Conundrum Gershom Gorenberg, Prospect. While Haredi men in Israel are beginning to realize that the status quo cannot last much longer, they lack the basic education necessary to enter the workforce.
Batter Up in Tel Aviv Jason Epstein, National Review. Brad Ausmus, former major league catcher, is managing Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic competition.  But he has much, much bigger plans. (Interview)
The Arab Minority in the Jewish State Anita Shapira, Israel Democracy Institute. How can Israel reconcile the needs of a majority that isn’t used to being a majority with the needs of a minority that isn’t used to being a minority? (Video)
Secular Meets Religious in the IDF Shani Boianjiu, New York Times. “The moment I touched the weapon, one of the soldiers got up from his chair and left.”