Jewish Identity

It’s All in the Angle

In his new collection of essays, ultra-Orthodox rabbi Avi Shafran disputes the scientific worldview on its own terms.  But he refuses to acknowledge scientific challenges to Judaism.  

Raider of the Lost Knish

More than Hebrew School, a Torah scroll or the eternal light in the synagogue, the knish provided sanctuary.  It encapsulated my identity: ethnic, funny, and grounded in the past.

Buczacz by Way of Newark: On Literary Lives at the End

Philip Roth has bowed out gracefully from the literary world.  But for the great Hebrew writer S. Y. Agnon, retirement was never an option.

It’s All Happening at the Zoo

Howard Jacobson's latest novel, Zoo Time, is not immediately recognizable as Jewish fiction; but Jacobson again portrays the fear, uncertainty, and ambivalence that characterize the modern Jew. 

An Open Letter to Philip Roth

Say it ain’t so.  The news that you have decided to retire from the “awful field” of writing fiction is terribly upsetting.  Not because your readers and critics might have paid more respectful attention to Nemesis if they’d only known that it was going to be your last book.

Can Reform Judaism Get Its Mojo Back?

The American Jewish community as a whole cannot survive if there is no non-Orthodox movement to which American Jews can belong; in other words, survival depends on a strong Reform movement.  But in light of current trends, is that possible?