People & Places
Jews against Zionism
It will come as a surprise to many that the current adamant Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state was once American policy. An even greater surprise is that an American rabbi and the Jewish organization he headed played a major role in the government's articulation of that policy.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 by Lawrence Grossman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
It will come as a surprise to many that the current adamant Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state was once American policy. An even greater surprise is that an American rabbi and the Jewish organization he headed played a major role in the government's articulation of that policy.
The Jewish Samuel Menashe
The poet Samuel Menashe, who died on August 22 at the age of eighty-five, grew up in Queens, New York. His poems have always been appreciated by other poets; but, until late in his life, his poetry did not receive the attention it deserved.
Monday, August 29, 2011 by David Curzon | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The poet Samuel Menashe, who died on August 22 at the age of eighty-five, grew up in Queens, New York. His poems have always been appreciated by other poets; but, until late in his life, his poetry did not receive the attention it deserved.
Demonizing Glenn Beck
Few American public figures equal Glenn Beck in his ability to inspire loathing from his enemies and affection from his admirers. Beck was in Israel this past week for a series of public events—in effect, revival meetings. He called the tour "Restoring Courage."
Friday, August 26, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Few American public figures equal Glenn Beck in his ability to inspire loathing from his enemies and affection from his admirers. Beck was in Israel this past week for a series of public events—in effect, revival meetings. He called the tour "Restoring Courage."
Hidden Master
The saddest saga in Jewish literary history involves some 500 Soviet Yiddish artists who were stolen away by Stalin's henchmen in the late 1940's. They met a tragic fate after twenty years under a relentlessly repressive regime whose creation they had greeted with utopian fervor.
Thursday, August 25, 2011 by Allan Nadler | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The saddest saga in Jewish literary history involves some 500 Soviet Yiddish artists who were stolen away by Stalin's henchmen in the late 1940's. They met a tragic fate after twenty years under a relentlessly repressive regime whose creation they had greeted with utopian fervor.
Who Speaks for Israeli Arabs?
Historians writing about Israel's 1948 fight for independence generally place heavy responsibility for the Palestinian Arab refugee problem on the Arab leaders who urged their people to flee Palestine temporarily until the Zionists were driven into the sea.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Historians writing about Israel's 1948 fight for independence generally place heavy responsibility for the Palestinian Arab refugee problem on the Arab leaders who urged their people to flee Palestine temporarily until the Zionists were driven into the sea.
Too Many Museums?
Although the paint is still wet on Philadelphia's National Museum of American Jewish History, an announcement has just been made of a planned National Museum of the Jewish People in Washington, D.C., steps from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and not far from two other Jewish museums.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 by Diana Muir Appelbaum | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Although the paint is still wet on Philadelphia's National Museum of American Jewish History, an announcement has just been made of a planned National Museum of the Jewish People in Washington, D.C., steps from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and not far from two other Jewish museums.
Get Ready for Durban III
On September 22, one month from today, world bodies will gather at the UN General Assembly in New York on the 10th anniversary of the UN World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa.
On September 22, one month from today, world bodies will gather at the UN General Assembly in New York on the 10th anniversary of the UN World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa.
Islamism and Western Art
Osama bin Laden will forever be remembered spending his last days like a common shlub: sitting on the floor, wrapped in a blanket, remote control in hand, watching TV. Unlike most other shlubs, however, bin Laden just happened to be contemplating his own image on the boob tube.
Friday, August 19, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Osama bin Laden will forever be remembered spending his last days like a common shlub: sitting on the floor, wrapped in a blanket, remote control in hand, watching TV. Unlike most other shlubs, however, bin Laden just happened to be contemplating his own image on the boob tube.
Crown Heights in the Mirror
On the evening of August 19, 1991, the three-car motorcade of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, entered the intersection of President Street and Utica Avenue in Brooklyn.
Thursday, August 18, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
On the evening of August 19, 1991, the three-car motorcade of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, entered the intersection of President Street and Utica Avenue in Brooklyn.
What’s Behind Israel’s Middle-Class Revolt?
Amid the flood of press comments about the "middle-class" protests that have been roiling the Israeli scene over the past weeks, a particularly cheerful note was struck by the American political philosopher Michael Walzer.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 by Ran Baratz | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Amid the flood of press comments about the "middle-class" protests that have been roiling the Israeli scene over the past weeks, a particularly cheerful note was struck by the American political philosopher Michael Walzer.
Editors' Picks
From Esperanza to Shprintze Philologos, Forward. "In English my name means hope," says the heroine of Sandra Cisneros's House on Mango Street. What does it mean in Yiddish?
Hail to the Chief? Dianna Cahn, JTA. Now that modern-day Judaism is losing ground as a uniform community in Britain, many are asking whether the chief rabbi can—or should—continue to try to unite Jewry under a single umbrella.
Blurring the Line Raymond Ibrahim, Middle East Forum. How does the media whitewash Muslim persecution of Christians? One way is to evoke "sectarian strife," a phrase that conjures images of two equally matched adversaries fighting.
“Christ at the Checkpoint” Lee Smith, Tablet. A growing movement seeks to align evangelical Christians with the Palestinian cause.
Bon Voyage? Benjamin Ivry, Forward. Flaubert and other nineteenth-century French travelers in Palestine groused about wild dogs, the hygiene of the locals, the blight of tourism, and the taste of Dead Sea water.
Calibrating Darkness Henry Tylbor, Jewish Ideas Daily. In the Warsaw Ghetto, a youngster watches, hears, and mentally records the sights, sounds, and sensations of encroaching murder.
Haredim in the Holocaust Meir Wikler, Haaretz. While Yad Vashem downplays the experiences of the religious in the Shoah, Haredim have authored their own books and are building their own museums to teach their children and to memorialize the slain.
A “Holocaust Complex”? Yair Sheleg, Haaretz. It is not only the Israeli Right that was traumatized by the Holocaust and thus views the world with apprehension. The Israeli peace camp also has a distorted view of the world due to that very same trauma.
P.O.R.K. Leah Stern, Times of Israel. "Our children have suddenly become ultra-Orthodox. What do we do?" P.O.R.K. to the rescue!
Israel, Where's Your Instagram? Matt Marshall, VentureBeat. Israeli entrepreneurs are hitting base hits all year long but they can't seem to get into the World Series.