The Pale God

 

Imagine God not as a benign force infusing the universe with love and sustaining it with mercy, and not as a stern judge smiting sinners from on high with his cosmic zap-gun, but as a grandfatherly figure, kind but, truth be told, somewhat out of it, sitting in a corner, tolerant of the various paths his children have chosen.

A Portrait of Israeli Jewry  Asher Arian, Ayala Keissar-Sugarmen,  Avi Chai Foundation.  A comprehensive study of religious behavior among Israeli Jews, worshiping Spinoza's pale God. (PDF)  SAVE

Secularism and Its Discontents  Yehudah Mirsky,  Jewish Ideas Daily.  A dependence on the idea of Jewish "tradition" has been a hallmark of Jewish secularists and proto-secularists for nine centuries or so.  SAVE

Spinoza: A Life  Steven Nadler,  Cambridge University Press.  The first complete biography of Spinoza in any language—and a portrait of 17th-century Jewish Amsterdam.  SAVE

Gender Trouble  Yehudah Mirsky,  Jewish Ideas Daily.  Israel's secularists have their work cut out for them in implementing their vision of a moderate, state-friendly Judaism.  SAVE

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Hear, O Friends of Israel

 

In 1987, exactly a quarter-century ago, the appearance of a work of Jewish history caused a stir. For one thing, the author was not Jewish; for another, the book was unashamedly supportive of the State of Israel, which even then was enough to provoke hostility, especially on the Left.

The Miracle  Paul Johnson,  Jewish Ideas Daily.  The creation of Israel was the quintessential event of the last century, and the only one that can fairly be called a miracle.  SAVE

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Celebrity Politics, Israel-Style

 

Just two weeks ago, the always-excitable Israeli political world was abuzz with the news of two famous new Knesset candidates. One of them was a famous son—journalist Yair Lapid, whose father, Tommy Lapid, served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice under Ariel Sharon.

From Hero's Parent to Politician  Shmuel Rosner,  New York Times.  A Kadima Party politician complains about his electoral prospects, "No family member of mine was ever kidnapped, so I guess I don't have much chance."  SAVE

Entering the Fray  D.L.,  Economist.  Most are publicly polite, but some in Likud think Noam Shalit has shown gross ingratitude to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  SAVE

Just Deserts  Shlomo Avineri,  Haaretz.  Plato warns in the Republic that democracy is endangered when the public begins to confuse theater with politics.  SAVE

The Rising Price of an Israeli Life  Ronen Bergman,  New York Times.  A veteran Israeli military analyst follows the path that led to the thousand-to-one swap for Gilad Shalit's release.  SAVE

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Whose Holocaust?

 

For much of Europe, today is the UN-designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has dedicated his address this year to children murdered by the Nazis, with the message that "the best tribute to the memory of these children is an ongoing effort to teach the universal lessons of the Holocaust, so that no such horror is visited upon future generations."

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Insight & Analysis

Vatican't  Giulio Meotti.  Ynet.  Israel's decision to cede some sovereignty over the "Hall of the Last Supper" to the Catholic Church will only embolden the Vatican's campaign to appropriate Jewish Jerusalem.  SAVE

Barter in Bartaa  Tali Heruti-Sover.  Haaretz.  Straddling the Green Line, the village of Bartaa has become a booming market town. Or, rather, the Palestinian half has.  SAVE

The Mufti and the U.S. Election  Rafael Medoff.  JTA.  A mufti calls for violence against Jews, Netanyahu demands Palestinian leaders disavow him, and America's presidential race could be affected. That could be a news report from last week. Or from 1946.  SAVE

Our Ethiopian Brothers  Elad Uzan.  Jerusalem Post.  Why haven't Israelis come to the aid of Ethiopian Jews, as they have for African non-Jews?.  SAVE

After Tal  Jerusalem Post.  The "melting pot" ethos, which aimed to resocialize young soldiers, has been replaced by a softer, multicultural approach—as a result of which, more Haredim have been integrated into the IDF, and more are joining.  SAVE

How Fruitful?  Shmuel Rosner.  New York Times.  By funding IVF for women in their fifties and now requiring women who want to give birth at home to prove their sanity, is Israel taking its involvement in procreation a little too far?.  SAVE

Talking Security, Thinking Demographics  Yoram Rabin.  Haaretz.  Israel's Supreme Court is discussing the security implications of immigration law without explicitly addressing the demographic implications. That will have to change.  SAVE

Q & A

Introducing Hanoch Bartov

 

Introducing Hanoch Bartov

To judge by the many prestigious awards his country has bestowed upon him, and by his prolific output—including ten novels, six collections of short stories, and three books of essays—the eighty-four-year-old Hanoch Bartov should need no introduction. And yet, outside Israel, this master of Hebrew style and quintessential son of the Jewish people and the Jewish state is relatively little known.

Continue Reading "Introducing Hanoch Bartov"  Elliot Jager,  Jewish Ideas Daily.  SAVE

Writing as a Jew  Hanoch Bartov,  Commentary.  "For me, to say ‘I am an Israeli, period,' is to join the long, crooked line of those determined to cease to be."  SAVE

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Q & A

Left in Zion: A Conversation with Elhanan Yakira

 

Elhanan Yakira, professor of philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has all the credentials of a man of the Israeli Left: born and raised in Tel Aviv as a Zionist and socialist , a lifelong secular Jew, an opponent of West Bank settlements, an advocate of government intervention in economic policy. Yet many of his colleagues on the Left denounce him as a right-winger and a traitor. 

Continue Reading "Left in Zion"  Elliot Jager,  Jewish Ideas Daily.  A philosopher who did not set out to be a Zionist polemicist stirs anger and debate.  SAVE

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