Jerusalem and Athens

The holiday of Hanukkah is, in part, a celebration of the victory of traditionalist Jews over Jews bent on assimilation to Greek Seleucid culture.  As such, the second-century B.C.E. Maccabean revolt has resonated throughout the ages not only as a key historical contest, but as a wellspring for interpretations of the divergent views of the Hebrews and the Greeks. 

Hebraism and Hellenism Reconsidered  Louis H. Feldman,  Judaism.  For almost every supposed difference between the two systems of thought, one can point to exceptions or actual similarities; yet certain very real divisions remain.  SAVE

SAVE "Jerusalem and Athens"

The Trouble with Hitchens

When Christopher Hitchens passed away yesterday at the age of 62, the encomia started pouring in almost immediately. Most of this praise is deserved, as the acumen of Hitchens's muscular criticism and the wit of his ripostes will be with us for a long time to come.

SAVE "The Trouble with Hitchens"

Leora Batnitzky.

Is Judaism a Religion?

There is no end to the conundrums involved in defining what it means to be a Jew. Must a Jew be someone who believes in the Jewish religion, in the way a Christian believes in Christianity or a Muslim in Islam?  That can't be the case, since many devoted Jews are atheists.

Religion or Culture?  Leora Batnitzky,  Jewish Week.  A common assumption is that Judaism began as a religion and only gradually grew into something more broad. But this has it exactly backward.  SAVE

Non serviam  Tomer Zarchin,  Haaretz.  In granting the writer Yoram Kaniuk the right to be officially registered as "without religion" (rather than Jewish), Israel has taken a giant step toward the legal separation of religion and state.  SAVE

Secularism and Its Discontents  Yehudah Mirsky,  Jewish Ideas Daily.  The familiar category of Jewish secularism is worth rethinking, but one author's attempt doesn't satisfy.  SAVE

SAVE "Is Judaism a Religion?"

Who Owns Maimonides?

Abraham Joshua Heschel once suggested that if one didn't know that "Maimonides" was a person, one would assume it was the name of a university. Heschel was referring to the monumental breadth and influence of the 12th-century philosopher's work.

Perplexed by Maimonides?  Natan Slifkin,  Rationalist Judaism.  A chart of the various approaches to Maimonides' theology, from the academic to the ultra-Orthodox.  SAVE

Mediterranean Maimonides  Jewish Ideas Daily.  For Maimonides, Islamic culture was not just background but shaping influence.  SAVE

The Tale of Maimonides and Peter  Fred MacDowell,  On the Main Line.  Was the great religious philosopher a heretic, as some medieval rabbis thought? A legend extant in many versions tells how he dramatically and successfully dispelled the charge.  SAVE

Sifting the Cairo Genizah  Lawrence Grossman,  Jewish Ideas Daily.  The centuries-old materials found in the loft of a Cairo synagogue include handwritten letters and documents of Maimonides.  SAVE

SAVE "Who Owns Maimonides?"

Lieberman, Horowitz.

The Book of Life

The High Holy Days are traditionally a time for introspection. Even the sturdiest soul must pause with trepidation over the more harrowing passages in the somber liturgy of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Who shall live, and who shall die?

Secret of the Sabbath  Yosef Yitzhak Lifshitz,  Azure.  What is the Sabbath ban on work really about?  SAVE

Bring Back the Sabbath  Judith Shulevitz,  New York Times.  Interrupting the ceaseless round of striving requires a surprisingly strenuous act of will, one that has to be bolstered by habit as well as by social sanction.  SAVE

Manuals for the Dying  Avriel Bar-Levav,  Sh’ma.  Historically, the work of caring for the dying predated the rituals that came to govern it. (PDF)  SAVE

SAVE "The Book of Life"