Dead Sea Walking
Shay Rabineau had a simple plan: circle the Dead Sea on foot in two weeks while navigating treacherous heights, marshy flats, military checkpoints, and ad hoc baptisms. What could go wrong?
Freud as Talmudist
We now understand Sigmund Freud as an anxious Jewish humanist, not the intrepid scientific investigator he thought himself to be. Does that help explain why his interpretations seem so talmudic?
History—and Israel—from the Outside In
Chaim Weizmann's outsider view of the Yishuv often led to conflict with the Zionist leaders based in British Mandatory Palestine. But it was precisely that perspective that present-day historians (and arguably Israelis) would do well to recover.
Israel’s Declaration of Independence: A Biography
Who wrote Israel's founding document and how does it express Israel’s values?
Letters, Spring 2023
Cliff-Hangers When I first read Hillel Halkin’s assertion in “On That Distant Day” (Winter 2023) that “for years now, Israel has seemed to me like a man sleepwalking toward a cliff” and “now we’ve fallen from it,” I thought it was excessive, though I shared his concerns about the Likud’s coalition partners (Zionist theocrats, anti-Zionist free-riders). Writing now, in the…
Nothing but Literature
Kafka’s unabridged diaries are, for the first time, available in English. What do they teach us about a man who was a lacuna of himself?
Prince of the Lost Tribes
Years before Shabbtai Zevi emerged, another Jewish radical tore across Europe, gathering followers and generating dissent.
Roots in Heaven, Branches on Earth
Nothing sounds more idolatrous than drawing God. But that is just what a diverse bunch of medieval Jewish visionaries and scribblers set out to do.
Satmar, American-Style
The explosive growth of Satmar Hasidim has shocked and worried many who see their culture as un-American. But two new books argue it was only in America that the sect could have flourished at all.
Tangled Truly
Letters of ink. Letters of the heart.