Ethics
The Chained WifeThursday, June 14, 2012 by Micah Stein | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Yafa Friedman lives in a modest, two-story townhouse in Brooklyn. This past Sunday, the shades were drawn as a group of 30 protestors marched outside the house chanting, "Yafa Friedman—stop the abuse!"
The Jewish Left, between History and RevelationMonday, June 11, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The association of Jews with leftist ideas and movements has been a fixture of Western politics for the past 150 years. But is the relationship logical and necessary, or is it historical and contingent?
The Tenth Commandment and ThoughtcrimeTuesday, May 29, 2012 by Yehudah Mirsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The Ten Commandments lay out a blueprint for relations, first, between God and Israel and then, between God and humanity; the Shabbat serves as the hinge between the two.
Mothering and SmotheringTuesday, March 20, 2012 by Brauna Doidge | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
When did "natural" become a synonym for "good" or "better"? Advertisers tell us that everything from our food to our skincare is better when it's used in its most natural state. But haven't the philosophers tried hard to get us out of the state of nature?
Jewish Ethics, from Ancient Bible to Modern BusMonday, February 13, 2012 by Lawrence Grossman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The next time someone tells you that ethical behavior doesn't need a foundation in religious teaching, step onto an Israeli bus (it doesn't have to be the gender-segregated variety) or open a mass-circulation Israeli newspaper and see how religion puts Jewish ethics on steroids.
America the BiblicalTuesday, January 17, 2012 by Diana Muir Appelbaum | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The Greeks did not invent equality. Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, and the gang famously believed that the rich are different from you and me—not merely because they are shaped by their privileges but because they are actually, literally made of superior stuff.
Human Rights and Religious WrongsFriday, January 13, 2012 by Jonathan Neumann | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Although the discourse on human rights has a long pedigree, traceable at least to early modern natural rights theory and politics, the philosophical case for human rights against one alternative, religion, has yet to be made.
Judaism on SteroidsMonday, January 9, 2012 by Micah Stein | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Ryan Braun, the reigning MVP of baseball's National League, is having a rough offseason. On December 12, ESPN reported that Braun had tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug (PED) after a league-mandated drug test revealed elevated levels of testosterone in his system.
Jerusalem and AthensMonday, December 26, 2011 by Leo Strauss | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
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.
Eating Your ValuesFriday, November 4, 2011 | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The many Jewish laws regarding food—how it gets from the ground and into our mouths in a kosher manner—are central to Jewish life. But what ethical framework underlies the system of kashrut? Maimonides' justifications for kashrut range from avoiding cruelty to animals and eschewing the idolatrous practices of antiquity to considerations of health.
Editors' Picks
Slow Food Seth Berkman, Forward. What’s holding up the ethical kashrut seal, which launched several years ago but has yet to certify a single product?
Death and Dignity John Cottingham, Standpoint. Euthanasia clinics claim to preserve human dignity by allowing people to terminate their lives while they remain of sound mind; but is there more to dignity than rationality?
The Dignity of the Individual Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Book of Doctrines and Opinions. In which the Rov rejects the death penalty for the Rosenbergs, says that slander in political elections is forbidden, and admits personal tension between his ideal of dignity and his impatience with the less educated. (1959; lecture notes)
Tied Together and Distinct D. G. Myers, Commonplace Blog. Jeffrey Eugenides’s Marriage Plot suggests that in our age of moral confusion, marriage is a lesser problem. In Hillel Halkin’s astonishingly rich first novel, marriage is the moral problem.
Abortion Politics Arrive in Israel Eetta Prince-Gibson, JTA. Abortion is one issue that has never figured in Israel's political campaigns. But recent calls for a public debate threaten to open a new fault line.
Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out Shalom Carmy, Avi Woolf, Yitzchak Blau, Tradition. When the Beatles sang "fun is the one thing that money can't buy," they meant something beyond the passive absorption of an inexhaustible stream of mass-produced sights and sounds. (PDF)
Hanging in the Balance Philologos, Forward. The Ethics of the Fathers teach that the evidence on each side of a case be weighed fairly; but what do we do when it is too close to call?
Liberty and Espionage Jerusalem Post. The indicted Haaretz reporter Uri Blau is no martyr. There is plenty of scope for journalists to ply their trade without putting themselves above the law and endangering the entire populace.
Face to Faith Larry Yudelson, Jewish Standard. The story of how the Dalai Lama encountered the Jewish community in 1990 is well known. Less well-known is how Jews first encountered the Dalai Lama—in an 1804 compilation of travelers' accounts.
Kidneys and Kindness Devora Steinmetz, Jewish Week. Why one woman chose to donate a kidney to a stranger—and what she makes of the fact that her decision is an unusual one.