American Judaism
Israel Studies 101Monday, October 3, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The modern American research university is a house of many rooms. The field of Israel Studies, which has emerged in the past decade, occupies one of the newest—and smallest—of those rooms.
Pay to Pray?Wednesday, September 28, 2011 by Jack Wertheimer | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In the middle decades of the 20th century they were called "mushroom synagogues." They popped up in the waning days of summer to provide High Holiday services, then disappeared at the conclusion of Yom Kippur. Today, "mushroom synagogues" are once again in vogue—but with a critical difference.
Desperately Seeking S’lihotFriday, September 23, 2011 by Allan Nadler | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
There was a time, not so very long ago, when the Saturday night preceding Rosh Hashanah was the rough equivalent of the season's opening at the Met for opera enthusiasts.
The Wages of DurbanWednesday, September 21, 2011 by Arch Puddington | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In the days just prior to the assault on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) was very much in the news, and for reasons that are altogether relevant to the mass murder that took place on September 11, 2001.
Rosh Hashanah with the Chief RabbiTuesday, September 20, 2011 by Lawrence Grossman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Ten years ago, the first day of Rosh Hashanah—the two-day Jewish New Year—fell on September 18. That was one week after September 11, 2001, when almost 3,000 people were killed by Muslim terrorists. On that Rosh Hashanah, rabbis did not lack for sermon topics.
Spying for ZionTuesday, September 13, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Spying goes on everywhere, all the time, 24/7. But the way spying is treated—when it is discovered, when it is publicized, when spies are arrested, tried, and jailed—is highly variable, especially in the United States. The timing is almost never a matter of chance.
Enmity; or, Yiddish in AmericaMonday, September 12, 2011 by Allan Nadler | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
He was irascible, neurotic, self-obsessed, and socially inept; a brilliant misfit and misanthropic dilettante. Upon his death in July 2010, Harvey Pekar's few close friends insisted that the underground comic-book writer was also a gem in the rough, an out-of-date socialist naïf.
Israel, America, and the Lessons of 9/11Friday, September 9, 2011 by Abe Greenwald | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Two heads belonging to the same monster: This is the way a significant portion of the world saw America and Israel on September 11, 2001. On television that day, we watched people jump to their deaths to escape the flames engulfing the World Trade Center.
Frisco KidsFriday, September 2, 2011 by Hannah Elka Meyers | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Everyone knows the caricature of a New York Jew: intellectual, neurotic, reflexively liberal. In recent years, the reach of the caricature has expanded to cover not just New York Jews but urban Jews on America's "left coast." But a new book comprehensively and compellingly describes a Jewish population whose liveliness belies any stereotype.
Retrieving American Jewish FictionThursday, September 1, 2011 by D.G. Myers | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The Jewish "boom" in American writing in the 60's was ignited by Bellow, Roth, and Malamud—reeled off in that order as if they were a firm of Jewish accountants. The roots of American Jewish literature go much further back, though.
Editors' Picks
Alma, Tell Us Ilan Stavans, Forward. Did Isaac Bashevis Singer's long-suffering wife write a memoir?
LDS POTUS? Moment. Nine rabbis from different walks of life reflect on what a Mormon president might mean to Jews.
Trailing the Magic Bullet Josh Feinberg, Huffington Post. Permission to treat Christians, entrance quotas, scientific heroes, magic cures, and nursing campaigns: a new exhibit explores the glorious, scandalous history of Jews and modern medicine. (Slideshow)
Up Lucette Lagnado, Wall Street Journal. One New York woman who has "done Hagbah" is a physical trainer who lifts weights and teaches Pilates. Yet when she raised the Torah, she says, "I was shaking."
Bloc Party Colin Campbell, Politicker. New York's ultra-Orthodox citizens don't watch TV or follow sports. What do they pay attention to? Politics. And more and more, politicians are paying attention back.
The Practice of Musar Geoffrey Claussen, Conservative Judaism. The Conservative movement likes to see itself as intellectual one. But it might have something to learn from a 19th-century movement of strenuous moral development.
The Eternal Return Lazar Berman, Uri Sadot, Commentary. The relationship between the United States and Israel is fracturing. The president is pressuring the Jewish state to make painful concessions in return for vague agreements. Israeli leaders worry that the support of a formerly reliable constituency—American Jews—is slipping away.The year is 1975.
The Titanic's Kosher Meal Marshall Weiss, JTA. The availability of kosher food on the Titanic sheds light on England's role as a transit point for Eastern European Jews on the way to America.
Couched Wisdom Tom Jacobs, Miller-McCune. Jews are more likely to seek out therapy and believe in its efficacy than are other Americans.
Learn Hebrew! David Hazony, Forward. The cultural gulf between Israel and the Diaspora can be bridged—but only if American Jews decide they want to bridge it.