History, Memory, and the Fallen Jew
Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi predicted a day when the historian would give his task over to the poet. A retrospective look at his writings show his own struggle between the claims of academic history and Jewish memory.
Jokes and Justice
We were sitting in our apartment one evening when a Spanish philosopher dropped in ...
Letters, Spring 2014
Spy vs. Spy, Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?, Gordis' Requiem & More
Life with S’chug
Einat Admony, who was raised by an Iraqi mother and a Persian father in Bnei Brak and now runs gourmet Middle Eastern fusion restaurants, is a new wave balaboosta.
Nation and Narrative
The sons of Israel, from the kibbutz to the hesder yeshiva, came together to liberate Jerusalem in 1967. Yossi Klein Halevi portrays Israel by tracing their diverging paths in the years since.
Original Sins
John Judis book about Truman's Middle East policy isn't a rant, but it's not exactly history either.
Our Master, May He Live
Rashi's commentary on the Chumash isn't just about textual puzzles, it's about God's love for the Jewish people. So argues Avraham Grossman in a new biography.
Politics and Prophecy
Ari Shavit, the Israeli prophet-journalist, offers both rebuke of the past and warnings for the future, but unlike prophets of old, he has no solutions for the way forward.
The Anti-Jewish Problem
In the competition that took place between Judaism and nascent Christianity, only one could be correct. Thus, anti-Judaism became central to the Western tradition.
The Good, The Bad, and The Unending
Have (more or less) real historians ever been as central to a Hollywood blockbuster as they are to George Clooney’s The Monuments Men? Our reviewer, Gavriel D. Rosenfeld has something to say about the history. Also Cate Blanchett.