Judea
The First War of National LiberationWednesday, December 12, 2012 by Diana Muir Appelbaum | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The Maccabees' revolt can lay claim to being the first war of national liberation. Reprinted here is Diana Muir Appelbaum’s account of why the Book of Maccabees is so modern and so dangerous.
What are Israel’s Rights in Judea and Samaria? Two ViewsThursday, August 9, 2012 by JHH Weiler, Yaffa Zilbershats, and Avi Bell | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Two differing views of a controversial report on the legality of Jewish settlements in territories seized in the Six-Day War.
Frail Reeds?Wednesday, February 2, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Observing Egypt's current upheaval, a writer for the Hebrew daily Makor Rishon has ventured the thought that whatever happens there, and no matter who takes power, "the lesson for Israel is clear: Arab regimes cannot be trusted."
Editors' Picks
Rehabilitating Herod Jessica Steinberg, Times of Israel. "He’s notoriously known as the bad guy," says the curator of the Israel Museum's vast new exhibit on King Herod. "But this man was a riddle."
The Original Jews for Jesus Mark Edwards, Marginalia. It wasn’t unusual in Jesus’ time to find Jews claiming that they could heal long-distance and raise the dead. Why was it only Jesus who attained the status of a god?
Budget-Balancing, Roman-Style , Bible History Daily. The Emperor Vespasian took office amid a fiscal deficit. But plunder from the Jewish Revolt not only filled the budget hole but financed the construction of the Colosseum.
The First Hellenist Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg, Jerusalem Post. The Maccabees warred against the Seleucids and their Hellenized Jewish allies. But Judaean Hellenism began earlier, under the Ptolemies—and was not so bad for the Jews.
Hear, O Israel? Michael L. Satlow, Then and Now. There is no evidence of public Torah readings until the first century B.C.E. So, how much did the Jews of antiquity know about the Bible?
Barak's New Bargain Mortimer B. Zuckerman, U.S. News. Ehud Barak’s new idea: incorporate some settlements into Israel and pull out of the rest of the West Bank. A retreat from Zionism—or a way to save it?
Melville in Jerusalem David Sugarman, Tablet. Hoping to find spiritual uplift, the author of Moby-Dick made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land only to find Jerusalem “half melancholy, half farcical, like all the rest of the world.”