Monthly Archives: August 2016

Judaism and Jewish Renewal in Israel (Alan Brill Interviews Tomer Perisco)

Posted on August 9, 2016 by zjb

Worth a good look, Alan Brill interviews Tomer Persico –primarily about Judaism, Jewish renewal, democracy, secularism and post-secularism, spiritual cosmopolitanism, and religious ethno-nationalism in Israel. The interview includes a discussion of Tomer’s new book, in Hebrew, about the history of … Continue reading →

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Hallucinogenic Religion (Bruce Conner)

Posted on August 8, 2016 by zjb

A couple of weeks ago at It’s All True, the Bruce Conner show at MOMA. Conner was an interesting figure in  San Francisco in the late 1950s and 1960s. Perhaps not unsurprisingly, religion pops up, on view as hallucinatory and trance-like, saturated … Continue reading →

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In Search of Jewish Ethics (1970s)

Posted on August 5, 2016 by zjb

I keep coming back to the 1970s in my search to find the origins of “the Jewish ethical tradition,” by which I mean ethics as an isolated and reified discourse. My own sense is that Jewish ethics rests on shallow … Continue reading →

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Rethinking the ‘banality of evil’ theory (Eva Illouz)

Posted on August 4, 2016 by zjb

An important article in Ha’aretz on Israel, Zionism, Judaism, and the occupation by Eva Illouz. You can read it here. Distinguished as a patient and critical thinker, Illouz resists the quick resort to blithe comparisons and to easy moral and political … Continue reading →

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Arabs & Modern Jewish Ethics

Posted on August 2, 2016 by zjb

If “Jewish ethics” is a relatively new and separate discourse formation in Jewish intellectual history, we might want to locate its inception in the 1970s. I have already suggested that Modern Jewish Ethics: Theory and Practice, edited by Marvin Fox, … Continue reading →

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Clinton & Trump (Against the Apocalypse)

Posted on August 1, 2016 by zjb

Exhausted, I’ve never spent so many hours watching as I did over the last two weeks the presidential nominating convention of either party –including lots of the pre-primetime coverage. What was I looking for? Portents and signs? Performance and spectacle? … Continue reading →

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Werner Herzog Pokemon

Posted on August 1, 2016 by zjb

Iz dere such ding asz insanitee among penguinns? You’ll want to watch here acclaimed filmmaker Werner Herzog reflecting deep on our relationship to nature, derangement, loneliness, stupidity, cruelty, and Pokemon.

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