Monthly Archives: February 2015

Political Murder (Iconic) (Boris Nemtsov)

Posted on February 28, 2015 by

On the murder of Boris Nemtsov, an important leader of the opposition to Czar Vladimir Putin. What drew my attention to this particular photograph is its picture of autocratic power, Police investigators gather around the exposed body of the corpse, all … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged | 3 Comments

Roads to Utopia: The Walking Stories of the Zohar (David Greenstein)

Posted on February 26, 2015 by

I recently finished David Greenstein’s Roads to Utopia: The Walking Stories of the Zohar. It reads to me like a companion piece to Hellner-Eshed’s, A River Flows from Eden, about which I posted below. Greenstein’s book is an addition to … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Symposium: The Role of Scholarship in Shaping Jewish Identity (March 1)

Posted on February 24, 2015 by

  Event Symposium: The Role of Scholarship in Shaping Jewish Identity On March 1, 2015, from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m., the Leo Baeck Institute (LBI) and the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies will hold a symposium and … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

Netanyahu Sinister (Google Image)

Posted on February 24, 2015 by

On a recent FB thread, cousin Zvi wants to know if there’s some special Google site for sinister looking pictures of Prime Minister Netanyahu. But, really, friend Adam Black reminds, it’s just what pops up on any random Google image search. … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

The Particulars Are Constantly Being Destroyed (Abraham Ibn Ezra) (Sefer Yesod Mora ve-Sod Ha-Torah)

Posted on February 23, 2015 by

I’m willing to speculate that Abraham ibn Ezra named this little book for the double rhyme between yesod and sod, mora and ha-Torah. It provides a little order or structure. I stumbled across a reference to the translation of this … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Muslim, Jews, & Liberal Order In Oslo (Photo Essay by Ryan Rodrick Beiler)

Posted on February 22, 2015 by

Amazing photo essay from the Muslim-Jewish solidarity demonstration in Oslo. It’s by Ryan Rodrick Beiler, and it appeared in the Jewish Daily Forward. You can see/read it here. They’re much nicer than the photographs of terrifying Muslims that accompanied the … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , | 4 Comments

ISIS Partition Map

Posted on February 22, 2015 by

I’m not sure about large parts of the argument that appeared in Atlantic Monthly article by Graeme Wood about Islamic State. You can read it here. The idea is basically right. How are we to understand the balance between historical-social-political … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Muslims & Jews Refuse to Be Enemies in Oslo

Posted on February 21, 2015 by

An religion is what its people do. There’s no other essence apart from that –and from the strong symbolic gesture. I’m posting here about the breaking story about today’s rally of Norwegian Muslims creating a protective shield around the main synagogue … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Islamic Studies & Holocaust Studies (Mehnaz M. Afridi) (Syracuse University)

Posted on February 21, 2015 by

Apropos to arguments made by Aaron Hughes about Jewish Studies being too Jewish, here’s a powerful profile in the NYT, which you can read here, about Mehnaz M. Afridi, assistant professor of religion at Mehnaz M. Afridi Manhattan College, where she … Continue reading →

Posted in uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

ISIS Costume Drama

Posted on February 20, 2015 by

Originally posted on salamamoussa:
The White House conference on “Countering Violent Extremism” represented an expected response. In the face of gruesome killings the gathering asserted the American values of openness, tolerance and faith in the healing power of bureaucratic acronyms. …

Posted in uncategorized | Leave a comment