Purim at JRB
This Purim at the Jewish Review of Books, we’re turning things a little upside down. A Jewish review of books? Why stop there? We’ve collected three fun and funny reviews…
A Comic Megillah?
Megillat Esther has long balanced the comic and the graphic in its content and interpretations. A new Koren graphic novel takes the challenge a bit more literally.
Pessimism Not Despair: A Reply to My Critics
"Just as the turmoil aroused by Israel’s new government has overlooked the Palestinian issue while concentrating on a more immediate crisis, so have the responses to my article."—Halkin writes back.
Which Religious Zionism—and Which Cliff? A Response to Hillel Halkin
The ripple effects of the recent Israeli elections and their outcome are being felt throughout Israeli society. Hillel Halkin raises many valid concerns about the consequences of the election, but…
Some Calming Words
Hillel Halkin shouldn’t be so worried. Democracy is still alive and kicking in Israel. The Israelis who didn’t vote like him aren’t stupid. They’re no less wise, humanitarian, and upright…
What Zionism Delivered
Ever since what Hillel Halkin calls my “bloc” lost Israeli elections, I have tried various therapies to manage my disappointment—and fear. I visited Susya, the ancient town near Hebron, examining…
Jeremiah’s Dilemma: A Response to Hillel Halkin
There is not much I can disagree with in Hillel Halkin’s portrait of the present cultural and political moment in the State of Israel. His despair captures the mood of…
Are Demographics Destiny?
Despite my many agreements with Hillel Halkin’s essay, he lost me when he appealed, yet again, to “demographics.” Demographics seem to be a constant focus in Halkin’s writings. In his…
Jeremiah, Ben-Gurion, and Hillel Halkin
In one of David Ben-Gurion’s last addresses on the Bible, an essay entitled “The Monarchy and the Prophethood” delivered in October, 1968, the old, former prime minister meditated on Yehuda…
Method to Our Madness: A Response to Hillel Halkin
Hillel Halkin is the reason I moved to Israel. I read his Letters to an American Jewish Friend at sixteen, and my life trajectory was changed forever—mine and that of…