The Americas
The Jewish Vote, Once and FutureTuesday, November 6, 2012 | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
This Election Day reminds us, yet again, of the paradox of the “Jewish vote” in American politics. Here is a series of varied snapshots of the Jewish vote as it has looked to different writers for Jewish Ideas Daily over the past two years.
Brandeis and Zionism, In and Out of LoveTuesday, June 19, 2012 by Evan Moffic | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The Supreme Court is once again poised to define the role of government in American society; and Louis D. Brandeis, the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice, would have recognized the terms of the debate.
Steal This SiddurWednesday, June 13, 2012 | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
If anyone might be poised to understand how a project of decentralized authority and radically distributive ownership could operate in a market-based economy, it would be the treasurer of a kibbutz.
The Lower Lower East SideFriday, June 1, 2012 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
What most American Jews know about New York's Lower East Side comes from books like Irving Howe's World of our Fathers. But I was born and raised in the neighborhood at a time when there were still pushcarts along Avenue C . . .
(F)rum RunnersWednesday, May 23, 2012 by Lawrence J. Epstein | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Prohibition is perennially making a comeback, at least in the media; and this is one of those revival times. It began with the HBO TV series Boardwalk Empire, now in its second season, set in Prohibition-era Atlantic City and priding itself on its historical accuracy.
Abuse Among the Orthodox: Bad News, Good NewsMonday, May 21, 2012 by Yoel Finkelman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
First, the bad news: Sexual, physical, and emotional abuse occurs in Orthodox Jewish communities. Next, the worse news: Two recent New York Times stories are just the latest piece of evidence that Orthodox communities are often in denial and worse.
The Moral Costs of Jewish Day SchoolMonday, May 14, 2012 by Aryeh Klapper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
There is a lot of hand-wringing these days about whether the rising costs of Jewish day schools are sustainable. The discussion has been about money: How can we get more? How can we spend less? These questions miss the point.
Sendak’s ChelmFriday, May 11, 2012 by Isaac Bashevis Singer and Maurice Sendak | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
After the publication of Where the Wild Things Are established Maurice Sendak as a force to be reckoned with in children's literature, he had the opportunity to illustrate Isaac Bashevis Singer's first children's book, Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories.
The Case of American Religious ZionismThursday, May 10, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Few things divide and provoke American Jews like the question of Zionism. Though many wish to remember otherwise, this was also the case before the founding of Israel in 1948.
Songs and PsalmsWednesday, May 2, 2012 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
After 17 years in Israel, our family has temporarily relocated to Brooklyn. For a week after we arrived, our pious Jewish neighbors ignored us. Then, on Shabbat, three of them finally approached us, one after another—to tell us that the neighborhood eruv we were using really didn't exist and that we were profaning the Sabbath.
Editors' Picks
Bad for the Jews Tevi Troy, Weekly Standard. Given Jews' reputations as non-drinkers, you might expect a book about Jews and alcohol to be thin. Jews and Booze shows otherwise.
Rabbis for Slavery Howard B. Rock, Tablet. Today, New York’s Bnai Jeshurun Synagogue is a bastion of progressive politics. But on the eve of the Civil War, its rabbi was a champion of slavery. A cautionary tale.
A New Lease on Life Winnie Hu, New York Times. From the Bronx to New Orleans, struggling synagogues have come up with a new way to survive: They pay Jewish families to move into the neighborhood.
Heat Wave Diego Melamed, JTA. Panama’s Jewish population has grown by 70 percent. There are 20 percent more children in Argentina’s Jewish pre-schools. Latin American Jewish life is booming.
Public Enemy Michael C. Moynihan, Tablet. An admirer of Qaddafi and Mugabe and an old-school anti-Semite, Charles Barron is an unlikely choice for a New York congressman. But low turnout in the Democratic primary could make him just that.
Who Killed Hebrew in America? Cynthia Ozick, New Republic. Who could have foretold an eruption of Hebrew-generative genius on the American continent—which, having no offspring, then came to nothing?
Johnny Cash's Christian Zionism David Brinn, Jerusalem Post. June Carter Cash "had a dream in which Johnny was preaching to the multitudes at the Sea of Galilee, and she was intent on seeing him do it for real."
Anti-Semitism without Jews Ben Cohen, Tablet. A prominent challenger to Venezuela's Hugo Chávez isn't Jewish, but his roots are—reason enough for the regime to launch a smear campaign.
Jewish is the New Black Peter Wood, Chronicle of Higher Education. Identity group labels seldom work as their proponents hope—and at CUNY, some faculty members see a new taxonomy as rife with the potential to become a tool of exclusion.
Dr. Seuss's War Andres Jauregui, Huffington Post. While best known for works like The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss "was haunted by the war in Europe," and was a prolific political cartoonist during the 1940s. Here, a gallery.