In the Melting Pot
More than a century after Zangwill's play debuted, the melting pot is still bubbling. What does that really mean for American Jewry?
Letters, Summer 2018
Poland and the Devil’s Point of View, Abraham’s Genome, Who's the Sabbatean?, and More
Maimonides in Ma’ale Adumim
Rabbi Nachum Rabinovitch has been working on his commentary to the Mishneh Torah for the last 41 years. It may be the greatest rabbinic work of the century.
Maimonides, Stonehenge, and Newton’s Obsessions
It takes a bit of a genius to successfully study a genius, and in this case one must first master the millions of words Isaac Newton wrote about natural theology, doctrine, prophecy, and church history.
No Empty Place
The most substantial theoretical response to Hasidism from a leader of the mitnagdic—literally, opposition—movement did not appear until 1824, three years after the passing of its author, Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin.
On Literary Brilliance and Moral Rot
Why did the prestigious publishing house Gallimard want to publish three vilely anti-Semitic pamphlets by Louis-Ferdinand Céline? And is he still worth reading?
Sacrificial Speech
Just a few years after the publication of her Purity, Body, and Self in Early Rabbinic Literature, Mira Balberg has somehow managed to write another path-breaking work on another formidable and arcane section of rabbinic literature—sacrificial law.
Says Who?
Peter Berger listened to me patiently, and then he said, “You can come to see me, but”—and here he spoke with heavy emphasis—“it sounds like you have read my books . . . and I haven’t thought of anything new.”
The Founder of Jewish Studies
In 1818, a 23-year-old university student named Leopold Zunz published a 30-page essay with the modest title “On Rabbinic Literature.” He could scarcely have imagined his impact.
To Spy Out the Land
A palm tree over one grave and a fence around another—two new books explore the history and legacy of the Nili spy ring.